The Captain and His Girl
by LilyBelleMichele188
Summary: Just some fun, sappy one shot fanfic stories about Steve Rogers/Captain America and a girl named Grace. Enjoy! I own nothing but my OC. Sorry if anyone is out of character.
1. His Best Girl

_**Agent Collins. ETA for pick up at designated rendezvous point 20 minutes. Please respond to confirm message reception.**_

"Grace?" Steve's familiar warm and low voice floated into her ears, sounding a bit hoarse and sleep ridden as he rolled over on his side to watch as the love of his life carefully pushed her cellphone back into her pocket before brushing her hair up into a tight ponytail in front of her vanity mirror.

"Hmm? What's up Steve?" Grace asked, peering at the Captain through the mirror as she pulled the elastic band from her wrist.

Unable to help the sigh that softly escaped his lips, Steve looked down at the sheets and fiddled with the corner of the comforter he was still covered in before responding.

"Do you have to go today?" His question made Grace freeze with the brush halfway down her hair. Then she let out a choked sounding laugh. Steve arched an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked, confused as to why she was laughing at his question.

Grace shook her head. "I'm sorry. It's just I'm usually the one whining about you having to leave all the time for your missions and...I guess I never thought our places would ever be switched." She explained still giggling a bit as she bent to pick up her hair clip and resumed her work on her hair.

As her words dawned on him, Steve began to laugh too and sat up higher on the bed until he was sitting up, the blanket falling at his waist.

"Sorry. It's just today is one of the rare times when I don't have to be on a mission of my own and I got to say I'm more than a little disappointed I can't spend the day being with my best girl." He said honestly as Grace finished tying her hair back.

She turned from the mirror to face him. "I'm not going to be gone the whole day. I'll be back at 5 or so. After I get all the intel of course, knock out all the bad guys and my partner is finished telling me I suck and need to train more." Grace joked earning a slight frown from her husband in response.

"You do not suck. Who tells you that?" Steve asked demandingly, his eyes usually full of warmth and compassion narrowing in indignance.

Grace laughed seeing him look so seriously ticked at the thought of someone even daring to talk her down.

"No one Darling. I was just kidding around." She secured her hair and moved to stand right next to the bed where Steve still sat.

His expression hadn't changed. "Is it Sam? Or Clint?" He asked, knowing that both of the guys he mentioned sometimes gave Grace a hard time whenever they were off on missions together, but usually it was all in good humor and it never went too far.

Grace shook her head and grabbed his hand in a reassuringly manner.

"No Steve. I really was joking. Besides, Barton has no room to talk after what happened in Belarus last week." She chuckled and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Steve who finally relaxed and laughed with her.

"Never going to let him forget that, are you? " He smirked, putting his hand on her back. Grace leaned a little closer to him. "Not until he stops making fun of your dancing." She retorted with sweet smile that made butterflies start in the pit of Steve's stomach.

"Well, it's not like he doesn't have a point, Doll. Even Bucky got annoyed after spending three minutes trying to help me practice for our wedding." He grinned and gently stroked her lower back.

Grace rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure he got more annoyed with me, but the point is I'm a top of the line former S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent with awesome kinetic powers. And while they're nearly as awesome as Wanda's powers, I'm awesome enough to hold my own even alongside the likes of Captain America on the field." She smirked and Steve let out a dry laugh.

"You're darn right you do." He smiled back and pulled his strong, well muscled arm around her waist, tugging her closer to him until she almost fell on top of him on the bed.

Letting out a shriek, Grace threw out her hands out to catch herself and landed laughing with her hands on either side of Steve's head.

"Steve! What are you doing? I almost fell on you, you silly!" Grace laughed as Steve gently reached a hand to stroke the loose strands of her bangs back from her face.

"I don't want you to leave yet." He confessed, whining a bit as he kept his arm laced around Grace's waist. "Let me hold you for a little longer."

Sighing at how cute and needy he looked, Grace leaned over and pressed a soft quick kiss to Steve's forehead, tousling his bed hair with her fingers before straightening and grabbing his hand to try to pry him off of her so she can get up.

"Well who knew that Captain America could be so clingy?" She teased affectionately, not having much luck getting him to let go since he was physically much stronger than her.

A light dusting of pink colored Steve's cheeks then, but his eyes turned serious again at her jest.

"I am not clingy. I just want to spend as much time with you as I can since I can't have you for the whole day. For all we know, I'll have to be gone myself tomorrow for who knows how long." He said seriously as if he were trying to convince an adversary to stand down.

Grace gently grazed her lower lip with her teeth.

"Uh huh. Sure Captain." Grace felt herself melt at how sincere he sounded, but she gently grabbed his hand and held it between her own much smaller ones, finally managing to get his arm off of her.

Steve gave her a protesting look. "Graaaace..."

"I'll be back by five-thirty at the latest and then we can be together for the rest of the evening. I'll even pick up a deluxe pizza for us to share while we watch a movie or something. I've kind of been hankering for a pizza lately to tell you the truth." She beamed, giving Steve's hand an affectionate squeeze before getting up and walking back to her dressing table to grab her equipment pouch.

Sighing Steve carefully swung his legs to the floor and stood, walking quickly across the room until he was standing directly behind his wife.

Grace smiled when she felt him breathe a bit on her neck and turned to face him, securing her pouch to her belt simultaneously.

"Then I'll be looking forward to that. I'll also have movies picked out from the stack I haven't seen yet for us to watch when you get back." Steve said with a slightly apprehensive smile, planting his hands gently on her shoulders before pulling her in for a kiss.

"Just promise me you'll be careful."

Smiling back, Grace returned the kiss and snuck in another one before pulling away. "I will. Don't worry, Nat will make sure there are no screw ups." She giggled, putting her hands at his sides and feeling how warm and strong he was through the t-shirt he was wearing.

Steve chuckled at her words. "It's not that I don't trust you, Sweet heart. You know that." He said softly and lovingly, trying to pull her closer to him again, but this time Grace put her hand on his chest.

"I know. And I also know that if I don't get going now, I'll be late and a ticked off Natasha is never fun to be stuck on a mission with." Grace retorted, giving her husband one last smile before turning out of his embrace and heading for the door.

Steve chuckled and followed her to the stairs, lightly grasping the hand rail as he took the first step down behind her.

"Grace?" He spoke again when he was about three steps away from the bottom. Grace stepped off onto the first floor of the house.

"Yeah Steve?" She glanced back at him questioningly. Steve gazed at her for a moment then shrugged.

"I love you." He said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. His words made a warm feeling glow in the pit of Grace's stomach.

"I love you too." She returned, bending to pull on her shoes and trying not to break eye contact with Steve as she did so.

Steve closed the distance between them nearly making Grace bump her head on his chest as she came back up to a full standing position.

"One last hug before you go?" He asked, holding out his arms. Unable to deny him, Grace moved willingly back into his arms and into the embrace she loved and leaned upon for so many good and bad days.

"You are definitely a little clingy Cap, but I love that about you." Grace whispered into Steve's ear, kissing his lips one more time before pulling away and heading out the door.

Steve sighed shaking his head though he was unable to stop the smile that stretched his cheeks as he moved to get the front door for Grace.

"I am not clingy."

...

**8:00 P.M.**

"Hey!..Wake up Rumbles. Enough snoring back there. We're back. Fury's waiting for us." Nat nudged Grace in the arm, waking her from the cat nap she managed to take during the long flight back to New York from Northern Canada.

Groaning when the light punch her friend aimed at her arm made her sore muscles sting, Grace squeezed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, willing her headache to go away before she tried to get up.

"For the last time Nat, I don't snore." She croaked, stretching her limbs carefully as her arms protested much movement.

"Whatever you say, Grace." The Black Widow smirked playfully at her friend before turning to stride off the jet. Grace sighed and got up to follow her.

"Oh and just FYI, you might want to check your phone right now. It's been blowing up while you were asleep and if it's who I think it is, you're going to want to call him back right now." Natasha warned when Grace fell into step next to her at the top of the ramp leading down from the quin jet.

Grace reached into her belt pouch and winced when she turned on her phone and saw the overflowing amount of missed calls and text messages covering the screen.

Just as she was about to dial Steve's speed dial number, the screen lit up with a picture Steve and Grace from one of their earliest dates together.

"Hi Steve." Grace quickly hit answer and shoved the earpiece against her ear, smiling despite her nervousness about her husband's response.

"Grace! Oh thank God! Are you okay? Where are you? Did the mission go badly? Why aren't you ba-?"

"Whoa whoa! Slow down Steve! I'm okay! I fell asleep on the jet and there was a bad thunderstorm before that delayed our return. I'm really sorry I didn't answer your calls or messages." Grace quickly cut Steve off, biting her lip since she knew Steve was not happy with her right now.

"It's okay." Steve sighed heavily after a brief moment of silence. "I'm sorry I just...I got scared when you were late and I wasn't able to reach you! I assumed the worst..as always." He muttered sounding tense as he took audible breaths on the other end.

Grace shut her eyes briefly in acknowledgement only to open them when Nat poked her as they disembarked from the quinjet together and headed inside the Avengers HQ building.

"Well I'm sorry for making you worry. I really am okay though. Nat and I just landed back at HQ and we're about to debrief with Fury. I'll be home as soon as it's over." She said as reassuringly as possible as she and her friend got to Fury's level and waited for their Director to admit them into his office.

"Okay." Steve still sounded a little tense and tired as he responded and Grace sank down into a sitting position on the floor still facing Fury's office.

"Are you still mad?" She asked quietly, grimacing a bit as she raised her arm to run her fingers through the loose ends of her hair.

Steve sighed again. "No. I'm just glad you're okay. Did the mission go as planned? Are you hurt much?" He asked. Grace nodded and got up from where she had been to sitting to walk down the hall a bit to get some privacy.

"Yeah. I mean no, I'm okay. We got the Intel no problem. Things got a little hairy as Nat and I were heading back to the jet, but nothing beyond some bruises and sore muscles." She reassured, hoping to calm Steve down a bit as she could still hearing him breathing audibly from the other end of the line.

"Good." Steve answered almost immediately still sounding tense, but Grace heard his breathing begin to slow down. "I apologize again for getting upset Darling. I know that's probably the last thing you need right now."

Grace shrugged. "It's okay. I know I worried you tonight. I should have called the minute we got on the jet. I know how ancy you can get when we're not together on a mission." She smothered a yawn and heard Steve chuckle softly on the other end.

"Well I don't really blame you for falling asleep. You still sound pretty tired. Just...remember to go easy on my aging heart, all right?" He joked and Grace snorted softly with laughter.

"I will Baby." She answered, sliding down to sit on the floor in the hall with her back against a narrow strip of wall which separated a Lab room from a restroom door.

"You know speaking of being tired, do I snore Steve?" Grace suddenly shifted the conversation, blushing a bit as she recalled Nat's earlier remarks when they were getting off the jet.

"Uh..." Steve trailed off and Grace felt her heart sink at the wordless confirmation in his hesitation. "Oh Lord, I thought Natasha was just teasing. How do you stand sleeping next to me?" She wailed earning a hearty amused laugh from her husband in return.

"You don't snore loud, Gracie. Just...you know like a big purring kitten or something. It's cute." Steve insisted. Grace still shook her head, sliding down against a wall to sit on the floor to relieve her sore legs.

"Great."

"It is! Darling would I lie to you?" Steve asked and Grace let out a soft laugh, shaking her head again even though she knew Steve couldn't see it.

"No. But I'm still mortified to learn that I'm a snorer. You're sure I'm not loud?" She asked anyway knowing she sounded insecure.

"Oh not at all. Trust me, I've had to listen to Tony when conks out after a mission. He sounds like a dozen jet engines. I'm not kidding." Steve said sincerely making Grace laugh a little harder.

"Okay I believe you then." She paused as another yawn shuddered through her lips, making her feel her exhaustion more than she did before.

"Not to sound like a broken record, but you really do sound exhausted Honey." Steve stated matter of factly, hearing the yawn. Grace nodded, letting her eyes fall half closed as she laid her head against the hard wall behind her.

"I'm so tired even after that nap. My arms and legs are killing me and I want nothing more than to get out of this building right now and get back home to you. I'm sorry I messed up our movie night by the way. I was really looking forward to it." She apologized, her eyes flying open when someone burst out of the door on her left, slamming the door a little.

Looking up and seeing that it was Dr. Banner, likely working late on another top secret project, she smiled and waved at him, getting one in return before the scientist/avenger hurried off in the direction of the restroom.

"I was too, but it's all right Darling. Don't worry about it. We can do all that another time. Do you want me to do anything before you get home? Dinner? A bath? First aid kit?" Steve responded making Grace smile at the thought of a nice hot bath to wash off the ache and grime of the mission before her stomach rumbled, reminding her she hadn't eaten since the sandwiches she and Nat had quickly devoured on the jet ride to their mission location.

"Dinner sounds amazing and so does the bath, but you don't need to do anything. I'm pretty sure you're worn out too from whatever you did today plus worrying yourself to death about me." She joked lamely, stretching her legs out and moving awkwardly to stand up again when she noticed Natasha trying to wave her over from the other end of the hall.

"You know now that I think about it, I wonder if our demi-god friend had anything to do with that storm that we got tossed in. It wasn't forecasted in the local weather report as far as I know." Grace added casually at the end, hearing an audible short chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Well next time I see him, I'll ask. And I don't mind getting some things set up for you. I actually picked up a box of pizza earlier to surprise you and I left at least half of it in the box. I'll go now and heat some up for you and run a bath so it'll be ready when you get in." Steve offered, some noises following his words as he presumably got up from wherever he had been sitting and moved to do as he offered.

Grace's smile widened as she quickly made her way back towards Fury's office.

"You're amazing. I've got to go now though. Fury calls." She responded, walking as quickly as she could so that Fury wouldn't be annoyed with her. Steve chuckled.

"All right. I'll see you soon then. Love you." He said softly in a voice full of affection. Grace responded by blowing a kiss into the mouthpiece of her phone. "Love you more." She giggled, reaching Fury's office and putting her hand on the doorknob.

"Love you most." Steve countered before Grace could pull the phone away and Grace rolled her eyes just before noticing the look Fury was giving her through the glass windows in his office.

"Fury's giving me the stink eye. I really got to go now." She chuckled and turned the knob into Fury's office. "Bye then." Steve answered and Grace brought her finger down on the hang up button. "Bye.

...

9:15 P.M.

"Darling? Is that you?" Steve's voice echoed from across the house as Grace tiredly let herself in through the front door of their house, wincing when her right arm ached the second she tried to take her jacket off.

"Yeah, it's me!" She called back, subconsciously moving her hand to give her sore arm a soothing rub as she hung her coat on the coat rack, dropped her bag on a table and dragged her feet to the bedroom where she knew Steve was waiting.

"Grace!" Steve's soft yet ecstatic voice made Grace opened her eyes again just in time to get her face squished against her husband's strong broad chest as he wrapped her in a tight yet loving embrace.

Grace groaned when the strength of his embrace caused some of her sorest muscles to burn, prompting Steve to let go of her almost immediately.

"Are you okay? Do you need the first aid kit?" He asked, about to go back to the bedroom when Grace stopped him with a hand to his arm.

"I'm okay Steve. Just sore. The uniforms may be bullet proof, but they're certainly not bruise proof." She joked lamely, rubbing her eyes as she attempted to stretch out her arms and roll her shoulders gently.

Steve gave her a sympathetic look before gently snaking his arm around her waist. "No they're not."

"Plus having to throw out multiple kinetic barriers like I had to today really draws your arms after awhile." Grace added, grimacing again as she tried to knead out the pinched muscles in her right arm.

"Well then I say you're fortunate to have an amazing husband who just finished drawing a nice hot bath for you. Come on! I'll go get your pizza while you soak and wash up." He said softly, smiling again as he gently guided his wife through the bedroom where he had left the door to the adjoining bathroom open.

Grace leaned gratefully against his shoulder for a second relishing the feel of his body against hers. "What did I do to deserve you as my own?" She asked softly, feeling herself relax more at the sight of her and Steve's bedroom.

Steve responded by dropping a soft kiss to her temple. "I ask myself that about you all the time." He chuckled through the sincerity in his voice.

Grace turned and kissed the base of his neck before pushing off and walking to the dresser to grab some clean undies and pajamas to change into after bathing.

"Oh! By the way...I don't know if this is a good time to spring this on you, but I'm leaving on a mission in two days. Fury wants me, Tony, Rhodey, Natasha, and Sam to go take out the base you and Nat scoped today. I shouldn't be gone for more than four or five days." Steve said carefully, gauging Grace for a response as she closed the dresser and turned back to face him.

"Oh. Yeah, Fury told me he was sending you." Grace responded seemingly calmly, but Steve could tell she was worried and a little disappointed that she wouldn't be going with Steve and the others by the look in her eyes.

Sighing, Steve walked over and pulled her into an embrace again from behind. "Don't worry. We've got this. Everything's under control." He said reassuringly.

Grace nodded her head and relaxed for a moment against Steve's chest. "I know, but...you can't blame me for being a little worried. After all, actually taking out the base and every threat in it carries more risk than gathering intel." She said, biting her lip.

Steve got her attention by gently cupping her chin in his hand. "Now what was that you said earlier today about having a little more faith?" He smirked and Grace grinned back.

"Right. Sorry Sweetheart. It's like I forget you're Captain America when we're just together without the uniforms." She giggled and Steve gave her another squeeze.

"But I am Captain America, Love. It wouldn't do for me to say, take the mission you just completed for instance. People would stop taking the Avengers seriously." He joked, earning a playful smack to the chest for his jab.

"Kidding! I'm kidding!" Steve laughed as Grace pulled away from him, still clutching her set of clean clothes.

"Sure. I'm going to take my bath now before the water gets cold." Grace muttered, smirking the slightest bit as she hurried into the bathroom.

Steve lingered where he stood for a second before turning to leave the bedroom. "I'll be here with dinner when you get out." He promised. Grace turned and smiled warmly at him.

...

"Ma'am?" Steve reappeared in the doorway of the bedroom, a plate containing two slices of warmed over deluxe pizza in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

"Your dinner is served." He said with a wry grin, enjoying the amused one his wife gave him in return as she looked up from detangling her still slightly damp hair in front of the mirror.

"Awesome! I am starved and that smells wonderful." She replied, sniffing the air a bit to catch a whiff of the pizza. Steve chuckled and set everything carefully on the bedside table before coming to stand behind Grace while she continued to work with her brush.

After standing there quietly for a moment, watching her brush out her hair, Steve calmly, but decisively grabbed onto her arm with one hand while reaching to take the brush from her with the other as he spoke.

"Come sit with me now?" He asked softly, a slight pleading to his voice which made Grace's smile even bigger than it was already. Steve smiled back when he felt her relinquish her grip on the hairbrush.

"Sure. Let me grab my moisturizer first though okay?" She responded, turning to go back to her dressing table and picking up a bottle labeled "Sugar Lavender" before walking over to sit on the edge of her side of the bed.

She started to pop open the cap when Steve suddenly stopped her, his hand covering the top of the lotion.

"Uhhh...maybe I should do it for you this time Honey. You need to eat and I don't think you want to taste your lotion with your pizza." Steve said a bit sheepishly, making Grace blush a bit as she realized he was right.

"Oh right. Thanks." She let him take the lotion and bent to roll up the legs of her pajama pants before turning to pick up the first slice of pizza from beside her.

For awhile they sat together in soft companionable silence. Grace watching her husband with adoration in her eyes while chewing hungrily on her pizza and Steve concentrating as he gently rubbed the soft cool lotion all over his wife's legs going only a little past her knees.

Grace sighed a bit as she felt him going back to lightly massage the still slightly sore muscles on her calves. For someone who was strong enough to knock out ten men with one swing of his shield, Steve had a surprisingly gentle touch and after being served pizza following a tiring mission, Grace relished the feel of the rub down he was giving her.

"So since we have two days to ourselves before I leave, what would you like to do to make up for missing our movie night tonight?" Steve asked with a slight grin as he looked up to meet his wife's dark chocolate colored eyes.

Grace shrugged one shoulder and looked up thoughtfully towards the ceiling. "Hmm, well we definitely have to get some training in somewhere." She with a wry grin, leaning slightly back on the bed.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "I'm being serious, Doll." Grace laughed and straightened her posture. "You and I both know Sam and Bucky will never let us hear the end of it if Captain America misses a day of training. Especially Sam and especially if it's my fault." She retorted and with a laugh Steve relented.

"All right fine. Then what do you want to do after training?" He asked still smiling. Grace put a finger to her chin.

"How does a picnic lunch sound? I can make sandwiches and potato salad and afterwards we can go see a movie or check out the new exhibit at the museum. Or we could just hang out at the park if you don't want to deal with the crowds." She suggested.

Steve shook his head, smiling as he continued to massage her legs. "A day at the park sounds nice, but isn't there a film you were wanting to see that came out last weekend? We could go see that after lunch."

Grace gave him a considering look. "I thought musicals weren't really your thing." She responded with a playful wink.

Steve shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think one is going to kill me, do you? Especially if you're going to be there with me." He smirked and this time Grace rolled her eyes.

"You know I seem to recall you were involved in a musical of sorts once. Way back once upon a stretchy spangly outfit?" She teased and Steve groaned softly. "At least _I_ didn't have to sing and dance." He muttered. Grace giggled then quickly became serious.

"So a picnic and a movie then?" She asked as if to confirm their plans with her husband and Steve nodded, looking up again to meet her gaze. "Sounds like a date."

Grace started to smile in delight only to frown when she felt Steve pull his hands away and stop the massage.

"Okay. I think you're good now. Did that feel good?" Steve asked looking up to meet Grace's gaze just as she pouted at him.

"Why'd you stop?" She asked, knowing she was whining a little as she dropped the remainder of her last slice of pizza back on the plate.

Steve raised an eyebrow at the expression on her face. "Because I'm done putting your lotion on Darling." He said as if it should be obvious.

"But the massage was helping my muscles relax. Can you do that for my arms now please?" Grace pleading, biting her lip in the way she knew Steve would not be able to resist.

Steve sighed though as if it were a pain to do as he was asked. "And since when did I become your personal masseuse?" He asked jokingly with a smirk that Grace returned. "Since you married me, Mr. Rogers." She retorted without a hesitation and Steve chuckled a little harder.

"Well I guess you got me there." He murmured, a smile still flitting across his face as he moved to sit up on the bed next to her and gently placed his hands on either side of Grace's left forearm.

Grace shut her eyes and exhaled deeply as the pinching feeling slowly ebbed away under Steve's gentle handiwork. "So..." Steve spoke suddenly, wanting to make conversation as he gently rubbed near her elbow.

"Tell me about your mission today. How did it actually go?" He asked. Grace shrugged.

"There's not much to tell. We got in, I kept the entrance to the room sealed with a barrier while Nat grabbed the files we needed. The only time it got a little rough was when a couple guys tried to ambush us near the exit, but it was nothing Nat and I couldn't handle."

Steve raised an eyebrow at her at that. "How many was a couple?" He asked with a slight tense glint in his expression.

Grace shrugged and turned her arm slightly pat Steve's reassuringly. "No more than three or four. We dispatched them quickly before they could raise any alarm although one of them managed to get past one of my barriers and land this on me." She turned and used her free hand to pull up her right sleeve as she spoke showing the large bruise that was on her shoulder.

Steve frowned slightly when he saw it and raised himself a bit to get a closer look at it, pausing. "That's a good sized bruise. What did he hit you with?" He asked, moving his gaze back to meet Grace's eyes.

Grace shrugged and let her sleeve drop back into place. "His boot. But I broke his ankle for it right before Nat shot him so it's all good now." She chuckled. Steve softly snorted a bit, but Grace saw the frown was still on his face as he quickly moved back down to continue rubbing her arm.

Frowning, she leaned forward and cup his cheek with her hand.

"Steven..." She cooed to get his attention. "Stop making that face. It's just a bruise. I'm okay. I've had worse. You know that." She tried to be comforting, but Steve only shook his head.

"I know that and I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself out there, but I can't help feeling bad when I see you hurt. I..." He trailed off and squeezed his hands a little tighter around her aarm.

Grace let her hand slip under his chin and gently yet firmly pushed up to get him to look up at her again. "Hey. You won't lose me. Okay?" She asked softly, knowing that Steve's fears of losing her like he lost his first love Peggy were beginning to surface again and Steve nodded, leaning a little into her palm as he kept his watery blue gaze locked on hers.

Grace smiled. "Besides, do you think I feel any better whenever you come back home covered in blood or cradling a broken limb?" She asked softly with a light sad chuckle.

Steve sighed and started to shake his head, a tear trailing down his cheek as he laughed with her.

"I imagine it's even worse for you Darling. But you know me, 1940s gentleman. I have to make sure I'm doing my best to take care of my family." He smiled a bit and Grace smiled back, moving her thumb to catch his tear.

"And I love you so much for that." She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "But to be fair, I think we both knew what we were in for when we signed up for this job. The best we can do is be as careful as possible and never forget how much we love each other. What do you think?" She asked with a grin that had Steve finally smiling back all the way to the tops of his eyelids.

"I think you are exactly right, Mrs. Rogers." He leaned up again, slipping away from Grace's touch and abandoning the arm massage again briefly to kiss her. Giggling, Grace leaned forward to meet him halfway.

...

(So what did you think of the rewrite? Do you like it? It's completely okay if you don't. I hope you did enjoy this little story though. Have a great day everybody! I own nothing but my OC.)


	2. After Endgame

(So I decided to a little minor edit on this story since I found lots of errors and I wanted to change a couple things. The basic story is still the same though. Hope you enjoy! I own nothing but my OC.)

...

_Ouch. Take it easy in there little one. I'm not the one with the super serum running through them._ Grace grimaced and rubbed her slightly swollen belly as she sat back on a loveseat, watching her five year old daughter Sophie coloring with crayons alongside her new friend, Morgan.

After moment, Morgan let out a soft sigh and turned towards Sophie.

"I need the red." She spoke up, holding out a soft pale hand for the crayon Sophie was using to color some flowers.

"I'm still using it." Sophie responded and Morgan pouted. Grace shook her head and pushed herself into a more upright position on the couch. "Sophie, let Morgan use the red after you're done, okay Baby? She asked you nicely." She lightly reprimanded.

"And Morgan you wait until Sophie is done." Pepper added.

The girls looked up at their Mothers, sighed and nodded in compliance, bending back over their pictures.

"Yes Mommy."

Grace started to smile, pleased when another kick made her wince.

"Ow. That looked like it hurt. Did Sophie kick that hard when you were carrying her?" Pepper asked as she took a sip from a steaming cup of coffee in her hand.

Grace shrugged rubbing her hand in a circle on her belly. "She was surprisingly not so bad as far as the kicking and moving around. This one however is starting to leave bruises on me. Boy am I glad I wasn't this far along during the fight." She sighed and looked down at herself.

Pepper nodded in agreement and put her hand over Grace's on the roundest part of her stomach. "We all are. That fight was brutal and we already lost..." Her voice hitched and she trailed off, biting her lip as the name got stuck in her throat.

Sensing her friend's pain at the loss that was still so fresh on all of their hearts and minds, Grace grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"Want to know a secret?" She asked, hoping to make Pepper feel better. Pepper looked up to meet her eyes. "What kind of secret?"

Grace smiled mischievously and after glancing in the direction of the hall that led to the lab, leaned in towards Pepper's ear.

"Steve and I decided a few days ago..to name our second child after Tony." She whispered and grinned when Pepper's eyes became as large as dinner plates.

"Really?" She squeaked, a tear sliding down her cheek as a look of pure joy and awe lit up her light brown eyes.

Giggling softly, Grace nodded rubbing her hand over her belly again. "Yup, we already gave Sophie her middle name based on Bucky's first name and we both figured after everything we all went through and all that Tony did to get everyone back that we could do him this last honor. If it's a boy his name is going to be Rown Antony Rogers. If it's another girl, her name will be Antonia Sarabeth Rogers." She beamed.

Pepper let out a breathy laugh that also sounded like she was choking back the urge to weep as she enveloped her friend in a warm embrace.

"Oh that is so sweet of you two to do that! Thank you!" A few tears escaped and Grace nodded while giving her a gentle squeeze.

"It's our pleasure. Only Steve and I weren't planning on revealing the names until the big day so don't tell anyone I told you, okay?" She murmured and laughing Pepper nodded in agreement.

"I won't." She pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes. "Thank you though Grace, from the bottom of my heart. I know Tony would have been over the moon to know Captain America is naming one of his children after him." She grinned.

Grace chuckled and shook her head. "Oh I'm sure." She said her smile turning slightly away to hide her expression since she was one of the very few who knew what Steve was going to do after returning the Infinity Stones to where they belonged today.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the sound of paper being crumpled and thrown caught her attention and both she and Pepper turned as one to check on their daughters.

"Sophia Jamilyn, what was that all about?" Grace moved to stand, crossing her arms as the little girl who was the image of her Mother except for the blue eyes looked up at her with a pout.

"I didn't like it." She explained with a cross of her arms while Morgan continued to color calmly next to her. Grace started to respond when a familiar deep warm chuckle echoed from the hall.

"What? Didn't like it? I'm sure it's not that bad, Pumpkin." Steve grinned, amused at his child's antics as he entered the living room and picked up the paper Sophie had thrown across the floor a few seconds earlier.

The five year old turned and fixated her Father with a stubborn pout as Steve uncrumpled the paper and studied the drawing inside with a studious look on his expression.

"Yes it is, Daddy!" She insisted and Grace barely smothered an amused laugh as Steve looked over at his daughter and moved to scoop her up in his arms pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Oh come on, Sweetheart. Look. You made the flowers really pretty. I like all the colors you chose for them." He said lovingly, carrying her over to sit with him on the armchair next to Grace.

Sophie continued to frown. "But I messed up the sun." She whined and Grace leaned over to look at the drawing herself.

"It doesn't look too bad, Baby. But if you don't like it, that's okay. You can draw a new picture. Just don't throw paper, okay? You could hit someone." Grace chimed in as a thoughtful expression crossed Sophie's expression.

"Okay." She slid off of Steve's lap and hurried back to the coffee table to resume her spot while Morgan rushed to show her now finished drawing to Pepper.

Steve chuckled and leaned over to lightly grasp Grace's knee, meeting her eyes. "You doing okay, Love? Baby giving you anymore trouble?" He asked softly and Grace shook her head, stretching out a bit with her arms over her head.

"No more than usual. I swear this one is going to be the new Captain America someday. I think I've got another bruise." She sighed and lowered her arms, rubbing her palms down her sides.

Steve gave her a sympathetic look then stood and moved to sit on the couch as Pepper took Morgan to hang her new drawing in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, but at least Sam's going to have that post covered for awhile." He murmured, gently rubbing the belly and smiling when he felt a responding kick against his palm.

"Ah!...Steve, would you mind? I know you like feeling the baby, but it always gets excited when it feels you and it hurts when it gets excited." Grace gasped and frowned down at herself.

Steve gave her an apologetic smile and pulled his hand away. "Sorry." He let his hand rest on his wife's thigh and started to say something else when the sound of heavy footsteps running into the living room drew both of their attentions.

"Guys! I got it!..I got it all figured out!" Dr. Hulk, as the remainder of the team had come to fondly call Bruce now, beamed as he stopped in the entrance of the hall, waving a tablet over his head.

Steve grinned back and stood from the couch, wiping his hands off on the legs of his pants. "I'll go get suited up." He turned to glance at Grace briefly and she smiled encouragingly back at him, already moving to get up as well.

"Go get em, Captain."

...

"Okay, so it'll be just like when we were going off to get the stones in the first place. I have all the algorithims set so all you have to do is activate the serum once you're in the clear and I'll hit the switch. Okay?" Bruce instructed calmly as he fiddled with all the machinery around him.

"And don't get distracted. Especially when you have to go back to the year 1970." Bucky chimed in with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face. Steve rolled his eyes at him.

"Come on Buck, you know that's all in the past now. Besides there's no way I'm letting you move in on my girl this time." He joked back, giving Grace a warm smile as she stood by Bucky with one arm around her belly and the other around Sophie's shoulders.

Bucky held up his hands in a playful defensive manuever and backed off a couple steps. "Hey, she's all yours Pal. I'm just happy to be Sophie's favorite Uncle. Isn't that right, Soph?" He smirked and playfully scooped Sophie into his arms, making her squeal with surprise and delight.

Sam let out a snort.

"Don't flatter yourself, Robocop. _I'm_ Sophie's favorite Uncle. Tell him Girl." He strolled over with a wide grin on his face, reaching over Bucky's shoulder to ruffle the little girl's hair. Bucky shot him a fake glare.

"In your dreams, Pigeon Head."

"Don't have to dream, Metal Man."

"Stop it!" Sophie interrupted their banter with a loud yell using one hand to bat Sam's arm away and the other to smack Bucky's chest.

Grace chuckled at the scene. "She's right, you two. Knock it off. You're being a bad influence on my daughter." She playfully put her hands on her hips and shot a mock reprimanding look at her two friends.

Bucky bounced Sophie lightly on his arm and gave Grace an innocent look. "Who me? Sam's the one you got to worry about, Grace. Do you know he gave Sophie ice cream an hour before dinner yesterday? That's why she picked so much at her food." He quipped and Sam shot him a dirty look.

"Dude that was supposed to be a secret!" He snapped. "Besides that was my treat for being an awesome hide and seek player. Ain't that right, Sophie? Tell your Mom and this loser I'm your favorite." He walked back up to where his friend still stood and held up his hand in front of Sophie for a high five.

Steve laughed when Sophie whined and buried her face in Bucky's shoulder, gripping the fabric of his jacket.

"I think we have our answer right there." Steve joked as he stopped next to Grace and grinned as he watched give Sam a taunting and triumphant smile over his shoulder.

"And besides," Grace continued, watching with adoration as her daughter started to play with the loose strands of Bucky's hair as he settled her on his hip.

"Bucky's going to be the new one's Godfather so you've got a fair shot and being _its _favorite Uncle, Sam." She said consolingly while gently patting her stomach.

Sam sighed but managed to smile at the thought as he reluctantly lowered his arm. "Fine. You're going to name this one after me, right Cap?" He asked, looking at Steve hopefully.

Steve playfully winced, clicked his tongue and started to respond when the sound of Bruce calling to him from across the yard caught his attention.

"All right, Steve! Time to go! You ready?" Bruce asked, looking up from the computer where he hunched over.

Steve turned and nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm ready." He turned to jog towards the time traveling machine when he heard his name being called and turned to see Grace running across the grass to him.

Steve started to inquire what she needed when she flung her arms around his neck and leaned up on her toes to plant a kiss on his jawline. "For good luck." She explained after pulling away.

Steve smiled broadly and reached to put a hand on her cheek. "I'll only be gone for a few seconds. You won't even have time to miss me." He chuckled and Grace nodded.

"I know." She stepped back and crossed her arms in front of her. Steve walked forward and let his hand slide down to her shoulder.

"Just count to five after I disappear. I'll be back before you finish." He whispered and bent to kiss her lips.

"All right! All right you two! Break it up! No PDA in front of the kid!" Sam called from across the yard. Steve and Grace pulled away from each other and blushed.

"Mind your own business, Wilson!" Steve retorted before bending over to grab the long silver briefcase he'd left sitting on the grass. Grace turned to watch as he recieved some final instructions from Bruce and stepped onto the pedestal of the time travel machine.

"Steve's sure come a long way. I still can't believe that's the same scrawny little twig who'd pick fights with guys twice his size in street alleys and use trash can lids as a shield." Bucky chuckled as he came to stand next to Grace as she watched Steve hit a button on his uniform to change it into the time travel suit.

Grace laughed lightly at the remark. "I know what you mean. I mean I haven't known him quite as long as you, but sometimes it still feels like I only just met him a week ago barefoot and terrified on the streets of 21st Century New York." She turned and gazed at her daughter lovingly.

"And now he's my husband and the Father of my kids." She reached wipe a smudge of dirt off of Sophie's face. Sophie flinched and moved away from her touch, letting out another whine.

Bucky chuckled down at her and squeezed his arms a little tighter around the child's smaller frame. "Yeah, I can't believe it. How much do you think Sam's going to freak out when you guys tell him about Steve's plan?" He asked looking at Grace amusedly.

Grace laughed and shook her head. "I can't wait to see his face. Although Buck?" She retorted as Bruce finished counting Steve down and the Captain hit the button on the tiny device in his right hand.

Bucky arched an eyebrow at her. "Yeah?"

"Is it true you used to invite Steve on double dates and then wind up taking both girls for yourself before the end of the night?" Grace playfully narrowed her eyes at her metal armed friend. Bucky almost choked.

"Uhh..well..."

Sophie stiffened and sat up in Bucky's arms when the machine whirred loudly and Steve disappeared in a flash of white light.

"W-where'd Daddy go?" She asked, sounding genuinely confused and worried even though both Grace and Steve had tried to explain to her what was going to happen earlier.

Grace turned to give her a reassuring smile, already beginning to count to herself in her head. "It's okay Sophie." Bucky gave Sophie another bounce on his arm.

"Yeah keep your eyes forward, Doll. He'll be back." He nodded towards the pedestal and Sophie followed his gaze while Bruce mumbled to himself, hitting the necessary switches to activate the sequence that would bring Steve back.

"Five." Grace counted out loud just as the familiar form of her husband appeared back on the pedestal with a great whoosh of air and another flash of light.

Beaming, Sophie clambered down from Bucky's arms and ran across the lawn to jump into Steve's calling to him as he barely managed catch her.

Grace grinned and moved to join her family while Bucky hung back to watch from a distance.

"So...I guess we got to get you a girl now, huh Barnes? I could set you up if you want." Sam suddenly piped up, wiggling his eyebrows as Bucky shot him a pointed look.

"No thanks, Sam." He grumbled though he couldn't help laughing a bit anyway. Sam turned to follow him as he moved to go back into the Stark house.

"No, come on! The lady who works the reception desk at the VA Center is single. She's cute and really nice. I can totally hook you up with her. No joke." Sam persisted, sounding very serious.

Bucky scoffed softly and shook his head, pausing on the porch stairs to look back at where Steve and Grace were talking to each other with Sophie running around between them.

"Maybe someday..." He conceded, lighting gripping the railing as he listen to the sounds of the voices of his friends mingled with laughter. "For now, I'm happy with what I've got." He smiled to himself.

"Hey Sam!" Steve suddenly shouted across the yard, his hands cupped around his mouth as Grace turned to retrieve some unknown large object from under the table Bruce had set up with all his equipment.

Bucky paused at the top of the steps, giving Steve a knowing look as Sam raising an eyebrow with curiousity moved to meet his friend on the other side of the yard.

"Uncle Bucky?" The former Winter Soldier looked down and smirked when he saw Sophie running up to him, her dark hair flying as she stopped in front of him and grabbed his metal hand.

"Daddy said I have to go inside. Will you come play with me? Please?" She pleaded. Bucky felt his smile widen. Looking back up at his friends again, he nodded and carefully held her tiny fingers in his gloved ones.

"Sure Kiddo. Let's go play."

...

"No...No Guys! Come on!...Steve, I can't take that." Sam shook his head, his expression a mixture of shock, bewilderment and denial. Steve just placed the heavy shield into his hands.

"Yes you can, Sam. You're the Captain now. We all agreed." He said sincerely, moving back to lace his arm around Grace's waist.

Sam looked up from the weapon to meet his eyes. "Who's we?" He almost demanded to know. Grace chuckled.

"Sam relax. Steve, Bucky and I all agreed that no one is more deserving to become the next Captain America than you. They're even having a version of the uniform made to fit you, complete with a mask." Grace grinned.

Sam snorted. "Girl, don't play. I can't rock that look like he can." He pointed at Steve and Steve laughed too. "She's kidding about the mask, but in all seriousness I've been thinking about hanging up the shield and uniform for awhile now. Ever since Grace agreed to marry me in fact." He glanced at his wife briefly and she smiled affectionately back at him.

"And now that I've got a kid and another on the way, I think it's time I leave the saving of the world to others and focus on other things." He shifted his arm so that his hand was resting on Grace's belly again.

He nodded at the shield which was still resting awkwardly in Sam's arms. "Go ahead. Try it on. Give it a little spin. It's a little more tricky than you'd think the first time you try."

Still shaking his head, Sam carefully slipped his right arm into the leather strap of the shield, feeling its weight on his forearm as he carefully held it in the ready position Steve had assumed so many times before.

"It's...not as heavy as I thought it would be." Sam said after a moment, grinning a little as he admired the shine of the metal object and the distinct red, blue and silver coloring on the front.

With a little more confidence, he held the weapon up higher then looked up to eye Steve and Grace again. "Are you sure it's me you want to give this job to? What about Bucky?" He asked.

Steve and Grace exchanged glances. "We thought about it, but Bucky still has a lot to sort out and settle after everything he's gone through. Plus, he's going to be busy being our main babysitter for awhile." Steve smirked glancing back towards the Stark House. Grace nodded her head.

"It's true. So buck up already and stop whining, Sam. Captains don't whine." She joked. Sam laughed with her then he lowered the shield to the ground carefully.

"Well...this is a real honor. I'll be sure to prove that I deserve to be called the Captain. That is if you're really sure you're never going to want to take up the mantle again, Rogers." He folded his arms.

Steve shook his head. "I'm sure. I think Daddy or Honey has a better ring to it anyway. Right Darling?" He turned and pecked a kiss on the side of Grace's head.

Grace looked slightly unsure. "Don't be so eager to let go of the name altogether, Steve. Sam may be the new Captain America now, but you'll always be my Captain no matter what." She snaked her arm around his waist.

Steve chuckled and ran his hand down her side. "I guess I could live with that." Sam made a face and bent to pick up the shield again.

"All right, I'm going to go before you guys get all mushy." He started to walk away with his prize when it suddenly hit him what accepting the iconic object really meant and he looked back at Steve with a certain longing in his expression.

"Good luck you two. I'm really going to miss being out there with you guys. It really won't be the same anymore without the whole gang." He sighed and glanced over at where three tombstones, one marking Tony's gravesite, one memorializing Vision and the last a memorial for Natasha where Bruce had wandered off to, glimmered slightly in the light of the late afternoon sun.

"Sam, stop talking like we're dead. We'll still be around. It'll just be in a more...domestic setting that's all." Steve tried to be consoling.

Sam sighed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah all right fine. Don't forget to name that baby after me!" He smirked, pointing at Grace's midsection before jogging off, the shield in both hands.

Grace shook her head after him. "Well looks like you were right. He took it rather well." She snuggled closer to her husband and Steve nodded in agreement.

"Yeah he did. He's going to do great. What do you say we go inside now and see what Buck and our daughter are up to?" He suggested.

Grace grinned and pulled Steve's arm to look at his watch. "I'm sure they and Morgan are having fun. It is almost dinner time though. I should go see if Pepper needs any help getting the food together. It's a pretty full house after all." She turned to head back into the house, Steve close to her side.

"Then I'll go find Wanda, Clint, Rhodey and Scott and ask if they're planning on staying for dinner too." He added and opened the door, walking in with Grace to see Bucky sitting sprawled out on the couch while Sophie and Morgan bounced around him, tying his hair into little ponytails.

The sight made both Steve and Grace burst into a fit of giggles and hearing them, Bucky carefully lifted his head and gave them a helpless grin in return.

"See something funny, Rogers?" He asked with mock indignance and Steve held up his hands in playful surrender.

"Oh not at all, Buck. You look great. Good work Sophie!" He snickered doing a thumbs up at his daughter before moving down the hall to find his other friends.

Spotting her parents, Sophie bounced a little more on the sofa and motioned to the side of Bucky's head excitedly. "Mommy! Mommy! Look! Morgan and me made Uncle Bucky pretty!" She exclaimed proudly and Grace stifled another laugh.

"I can see that, Sweetie. You girls be gentle with him now." She lightly warned before passing through the living room to get to the kitchen listening as the girls' happy laughter resumed mixed with Bucky's.

"Need any help in here, Pepper? It all smells wonderful." Grace took a deep breath, inhaling the mouth watering smell of tomato sauce as she spotted Pepper working on stirring a pot of pasta on the stove.

Pepper turned and shook her head. "Oh no. You go back to the living room and sit. I'm sure you could do with some rest now." She refocused her attention on the food.

Grace shook her head. "I'm okay. Why don't I set the table up for you? Or get the plates? We are about to feed a whole team after all." She grinned and moved to open a cupboard and look for pasta bowls and cups.

Pepper let out a sigh and a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes graced her face. "Not the whole team..." She said wistfully. Grace turned and abandoning the plates, wrapped her friend in a warm side hug.

"He's here you know." She said quietly. "He always will be."

Pepper took a deep breath and nodded at her in response. "I know. Will you please hand me a plate, please Grace?" She twirled some of the pasta around with the tongs and Grace smiled before pulling away to grab a stack of dishes.

"Of course. Let's get these spaghettis served up before the guys get too hungry and swarm the kitchen. I know from experience, you do not keep a super soldier waiting for his meal longer than necessary and we have two of them here." She chuckled and went to pick up the plates again.

This time Pepper laughed with her. "Let's get moving then." She took a bowl from Grace and scooped some spaghetti onto it. Laughing with her Grace reached for the parmesan cheese.

...


	3. The Battlefield Proposal

(So here's another one and kind of unfortunately, after I wrote this I realized that the second one-short I wrote for this no longer makes any sense since I set this during Infinity War. So I will be deleting it so I don't get any complaints about continuity issues. Anyway I hope you enjoy! For those of you who are interested, I am working on a longer fic telling how Grace and Steve met up until maybe after the first Avengers movie? I'm not sure at this point, but anywho on with the story! I own nothing but my OC.)

...

"On your right, Steve!" Grace called, leaping nimbly over Steve's hunched figure and taking down the creature who had been attempting to stab the Captain in the back while he was occupied with another of their numerous foes.

Steve straightened upon hearing a screech and turned just in time to see Grace shoot the creature she'd just deflected away from Steve without hesitation, a forcefield still visible around her other hand.

"Thanks!" He huffed, dodging quickly to the left and knocking another of Thanos's minions down to the dust with the shield, T'Challa had him outfitted with before the onset of the battle.

It wasn't anything like the shield he was more used to, but it did the job more than well enough and didn't slow him down.

Panting audibly, Grace reloaded her weapon and turned to face the man she loved with a thick streak of dirt stained across her cheek.

"No problem! Now eyes forward Captain!" She huffed, wiping a few strands of hair from her forehead with a swipe of her wrist.

Chuckling, Steve nodded and quickly moved to defend himself from another attack. "You too Sweetheart!"

Grace grabbed him by his right arm as the two aliens she was taking on began to use a team combination, rendering her barely able to counter with her gun and kinetic barriers.

"Hey! I think we're going to need to use a different tactic here!...These guys are smarter than they look!" She spat just as the sharp tip of one of their weapons barely missed cutting into the side of her neck.

Steve turned his arm to get a good grip on her arm and nodded with a clench of his jaw. "I agree!...I have a crazy idea though." He muttered, kicking out with his right leg to knock back an alien who tried to rashly go for a kill on him.

Grace slightly tightened her own grip. "Is there any other kind with you?" She asked with a slight grin as she shot another of the creatures dead in the forehead, killing him instantly.

Steve rolled his shoulders. "Are you ready to trust me?" He retorted with a question of his own and Grace briefly let go of his arm to sweep out the legs of another of their opponents. Sending a couple more bullets into his head to finish him off, Grace sprang a bit wobbily back to her feet and rejoined her former spot closer to the Captain's side.

"You know I always do, Love." She turned and shot him a smile that nearly took Steve off of focus. "Even when other peope do not."

Steve turned and grabbed her arm again as more of the creatures began to surround their location.

"Then hold on to me, Doll." He ordered out in a low confident voice, his blue eyes blazing with the adrenaline of the fight.

Grace nodded and held Steve's arm in a near vice grip. Once he was sure she was secure, Steve lifted Grace slightly into the air and swung her around in a 360 degree angle, manuevering the shield in his other arm to take out the aliens that tried to attack while Grace took out the others using a combinations of kicks and barrier strikes.

When Steve finally stopped spinning her, Grace hopped gracefully off of his arm, deactivating her forcefields briefly to rub down her wrist.

Her eyes fell briefly on the slew of Thanos's forces they'd managed to take out before she looked up to meet Steve's gaze again.

"That was..." She trailed off, trying to catch her breath.

"Crazy? Insane?" Steve tried, using his free hand to push his hair from his face as he panted audibly.

Grace answered by reactivating her kinetic barriers, this time around both hands. "Incredible! Nice call Captain!" She grinned before taking off to rejoin the rest of the fight.

Steve chuckled before running off to follow her, knocking down an alien that was about to attack one of T'Challa's soldiers from the side.

"Hey!" He shouted, groaning as a particularly larger creature tried to fight back against his shield.

"If we make it through this-!"

"When!" Grace interrupted, shooting down more of their foes before ducking to avoid a headshot from another.

"Right. When!" Steve corrected himself, quickly taking out his opponent's legs before bashing his skull in with the sharp end of his shield.

"_When_ we make it though this!...when the fighting's over!..." Gasping, Steve barely managed to dodge roll out of the way of a neutron blast from one of the alien's weapons.

"Will you?...Will you-Gah!" Steve grunted, frustration and natural aggression mixing in his voice as he caught his next attacker's arm and pushed back against its attack.

Grace clenched her jaw and ducked behind one of her barriers to defend against another neutron shot.

"Will I, what Steve?" She asked, shouting to be heard over the chaos of the fight. Suddenly she felt something grab her by the ankle and yank her off her feet.

Letting out a startled scream, Grace quickly tried to regain her bearings only to see that one of the creatures she had previously knocked out had regained his composure enough to perform a sneak attack.

Using her free leg to kick him in the face, Grace pushed more power into one of her barriers and shoved it towards her attacker's chest.

The creature let out a blood curdling shriek and lunged out with one of his arms when a familiar blur of blue and silver crashed into it, forcing it to release its grip on Grace's leg.

Steve stood briskly to his feet after finishing off his foe and turned to check on Grace. "You all right?" He asked a bit breathily, his eyes combing over her quickly in concern.

Grace nodded and took his offered hand to pull herself back up. "Oh I could do this all day." She said with a smirk, shaking herself out as Steve returned her gesture with a grin of his own.

"I'm sure you could." He chuckled, gingerly touching a cut on Grace's face before swinging around and taking out another alien.

Grace stayed close to cover his blind sides with her own shields, knowing Steve was doing the same for her.

"Steve?" She asked after a minute, striking another enemy with the heel of her boot.

Steve let out another grunt of exertion as he deflected another deadly bolt of energy from one of the aliens' weapons.

"Yeah Doll?" He swung out with his shield again.

Grace pulled her pistol out again and shot two rounds into another alien's chest. "What were you about to ask me before?" She asked, ducking and attacking another enemy straight in the gut with the full force of her kinetic barriers.

"Oh right!" Steve responded, bashing in another alien's skull before ducking behind his shield to defend himself again.

Grace started replace her firearm when Steve suddenly snatched her by the arm and pulled her behind a large group of shrubs that was barely big enough to conceal them on the other side.

"Steve, what are you-?" Grace started to demand, confused until Steve put his hand over her lips to silence her, his eyes shining as they never had before.

"Grace Adeline Collins. Former Shield Agent and Avenger," Steve began, moving his hand from Grace's lips to grip her hands.

"The woman who brought me back to life after the ice and stayed with me through every piece of hellfire that got blown our way, even at the risk of your own life...I know a battlefield is hardly the most romantic place, but would you, my very best girl, love of my life..." He squeezed Grace's dirty battle worn hands in his own before continuing despite the frantic situation around them.

"...Will you do me the honor of marrying me?" He asked, his voice shaking slightly with the continuing adrenaline and anticipation for Grace's answer.

At first Grace did not speak. Her expression frozen as the ongoing gunfire, violent impacts, yells and screams mingled with the stench of blood, sweat and smoke in the air.

Then just as Steve thought she wasn't going to answer, Grace yanked him forward and captured his slightly grimy lips in a passionate yet sweet kiss.

When she finally pulled away, she smiled at Steve, stood slowly to her feet and brushed the dust off of her pants. Steve continued to stare at her.

"Is that a yes?" He asked breathlessly, getting to a standing position as well. Grace's smile widened.

"Proposing in the middle of the biggest fight of our lives. You always were something else, Steven." She responded, tossing her hair over her shoulder before reactivating her hand barriers.

"And yes! Of course I will marry you...after we finish here." She winked and leaped over the rock to rejoin her friends and comrades.

With a grin, Steve quickly moved to follow her.

"Thank you!...Great! I mean uh...sorry I didn't bring the ring!...I actually had something more romantic...and classic planned for when I asked you but...it felt right to just ask you now!" Steve spoke as he moved to keep Grace's back covered as she briefly coordinated her attacks with Wanda to try to keep Thanos's minions from getting too close to Princess Shuri's facility.

"No sweat!...Maybe we could just get married here after...after we get finished taking out the trash!...Or if you'd prefer...we could go to the church...where your parents tied the knot!" Grace answered, lashing out at another enemy in between her words.

Steve lunged forward and took out the creature that had tried another sneak attack on Grace.

"You want to get married today?" He gasped, barely managing to avoid getting his nose cut off as he twisted to retaliate with an attack at his opponent's throat.

"Why not?...The whole family's already almost all here!...We'd just have to call Sharon and Maria and ask them to fly over...so they can be bridesmaids with Wanda!" Grace turned and angled one of her barriers to deflect a shot that was aimed at her new fiance's head.

Steve ducked under her arm and took on another enemy. "Who'd...be the maid of honor?" He asked, sweeping out his opponent's legs before wailing on him with his shield.

Grace backed up slowly until her back was touching Steve's.

"Nat of course. She made me promise!" She huffed, trying to catch her breath and coughing when a bit of dust got trapped in her windpipe.

Steve sighed and used the sleeve of his uniform wipe a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Well the best man's definitely going to be Bucky. I have a feeling Sam might pitch a fit about it though." He sighed and tried not to notice how sore his body was becoming.

"Well he can be a groomsman with Tony, Vision and Bruce." Grace responded, smiling as she imagined the line up for the wedding.

"T'Challa could officiate and I'm sure I can get Princess Shuri to join in too. We'll owe her after all, if this works!"

Steve chuckled at that as he reached out to grab his wife-to-be by the arm again. "We should probably also call Clint and invite him and his family too. It wouldn't be right to exclude anyone." He said before hitting another alien with his shield.

Grace nodded and braced herself on Steve, throwing herself into a double kick before knocking out another attacker with her barriers.

"We'll have to discuss colors and music." She added and Steve agreed. "It could be a mix of stuff from my time and yours." He huffed and turned so that Grace was positioned slightly behind him and attacked another alien.

A thoughtful expression crossed Grace's face as she tightened her grip on Steve's arm. "You think Wakanda has a dress rental place?" She asked, half teasing and half serious as Steve turned to meet her gaze with a laugh.

"What are you two giggling about?...Focus Punk! I don't got time to cover your behind right now!" Bucky huffed as he ran past, tailing behind Rocket Raccoon and sending off a rapid round of shots at every enemy he could manage to get with the his machine gun.

Steve and Grace exchanged glances before letting go of each other and jumping back into the fray again.

"Hey Bucky! Steve just asked me to marry him!" Grace shouted so that the former Winter Soldier would hear her as she swung out at another enemy.

"And she said yes!" Steve chimed in, power kicking another alien in the chest.

Bucky whirled briefly in their direction before refocusing on the enemy. "You...what? Now?...In the middle of a...!" The former Winter Soldier trailed off as he fired off another long round of shots at an incoming battalion of aliens.

"That's what I said!" Grace said with short laugh before she pivoted sharply to her left to catch the strike of another enemy, jerking her head up to avoid getting sliced by the spear.

Steve lunged up to stop another attack. "Well, at least it'll make an interesting story to tell to the kids, right Grace?" He teased, straining a bit under the pressure of his enemy's arm before knocking him back.

Grace ducked past his side to help him finish off his opponent with a solid shot to the head. "Kids?" She questioned, shooting Steve with a brief inquisitive expression.

Steve only shrugged, a light blush appearing over his cheeks before he took off across the battlefield raising his shield in the strike position. After a moment, Grace sighed, shook her head affably and took off after him.

_Oh Steve..._


	4. Lights In The Darkness

(So here is a new one-shot. This one focused on the time period in Endgame where the Avengers temporarily disbanded and went off to do their own things after they discovered Thanos destroyed the Infinity Stones. I hope you enjoy it even though it's a bit grim! There is some happy stuff too. I have more ideas for more casual and fun one-shots as well in the future. I own nothing but my OCs.)

...

...

"Again, thank you so much Mrs. Rogers. You're still always saving the day." The kindly old woman smiled genuinely at the former Avenger as Grace prepared to leave her last neighbor's house for the day.

"I do what I can, Mrs. Beckham. Call me if you can't sleep again tonight." She smiled, tugging on her coat as she backed carefully out to the front porch.

The kindly old woman, Grace had been visiting regularly and bringing meals to since she and Steve married and moved to the neighborhood after the Snap waved her off as she moved her hand to get the door.

"Oh, I think you have better things to worry about right now than a fretful old lady. You be sure to tell Steve I said hello though, all right Dear?" She called after the younger woman who was already making her way down the sidewalk.

Turning Grace offered her one last smile and a wave. "I will! Take care, Mrs. Beckham!" She waved, smiling until her neighbor had gone back inside her house and shut the door.

A deep sigh ripped through her core then and Grace let her arm drop back at her side, her fingers barely grazing against her mid-section.

Almost as if on cue, her cellphone buzzed and Grace instantly grabbed it, swiping her finger across the screen when she saw the Text ID.

_Hey Honey,_

_I'm going to be late again for dinner tonight. Sorry to do this again._

_It's the Crawfords. I hope your day is going okay. Love you._

Sighing, a tired half smile lit Grace's face and started to answer the text Steve had sent her when her phone rang with Natasha's name on the screen.

"Hey Nat, I just left my last neighbor's house. What's up? Did you find anything new?" She asked, pausing at a crossing intersection when the "Don't Walk" sign lit up.

"Kind of. Rhodes thinks he picked up something that might lead us to Clint. I'm downloading the files he's sending right now as we speak." The former assassin responded, the sound of her rapid typing filtering through the ear piece of her phone.

Grace sighed and nodded, knowing Nat had been spending every waking hour since the team separated to deal with their own griefs and attempt to move on, trying to find those of their teammates who hadn't been with them since the battle on Wakanda.

"That's great. I hope it actually leads somewhere this time. Actually would you mind if I stopped by for a bit? Steve just texted to say he's going to be out late again with a couple of his clients and I really don't feel like going back to an empty house right now." She spoke after a moment, moving quickly to cross the street when the light turned green.

Now it was Natasha's turn to sigh. "When have I ever minded your company? I bet you're already halfway here." She retorted, making Grace snort a bit with laughter at her best friend's impeccable sixth sense.

"God, it's like you're watching me from a window, Stalker." She joked, looking up as she neared the old Avengers Compound where Nat stayed mostly alone except for when Rhodey, Steve or Grace stopped in.

Even Tony had abandoned it after they failed to recover the Infinity Stones from Thanos in favor of a lakeside house he retreated to with Pepper who he was now married to.

Bruce had left too to figure some things out, as he said it to Nat on the last day the team was together and it made Grace sad to think of her friend being alone so much during such a dark time, but Nat had turned down all of hers and Steve's offers to stay with them in the guest room, claiming that she just wanted to keep busy and couldn't do so away from the compound.

"I was a former Soviet Spy you know." Natasha retorted calmly, the amusement clear in her own voice as the beep of a computer punctuated her remark.

"Yeah yeah," Grace shook her head as she reached the door of the impossibly tall shiny building that used to be her home as well and used her free hand to let herself in.

"I'm inside the building. I'll see you soon, Widow." She quipped before ending the call and taking a few longer strides towards one of the elevators, returning her husband's text on the way to let him know what she was doing.

When the lift reached one of the conference room levels of the tower, Grace stepped quickly out, spotting Natasha sitting at the long table with a laptop computer set up in front of her with some of Tony's custom speakers and holographic image projectors connected around the area.

The red-haired former assassin stood when she saw Grace and moved to greet her, a tired and forced half smile pulling at her lips at the sight of her friend.

"Welcome back to the Tower, Shield Lady. Had a productive day?" She asked, pulling Grace into a quick hug which Grace returned.

"As usual. You got anything to eat in here? Giving out food all day to people without getting to eat any of it yourself sucks after a while." Grace joked, feeling a bit lighter when she saw Nat's smile widen a bit.

"The only thing I've got here that won't make you feel sick is peanut butter and bread, I'm afraid. I haven't gotten around to getting the shopping done. But you're welcome to make yourself a sandwich." Natasha offered, turning to go back to her spot in front of the computer.

Grace nodded and moved to head into the kitchenette that was just down the hall from the conference room.

"So...have you told Steve about the bun in your oven yet?" Nat asked, when Grace finished making a sandwich carried it back. Pausing briefly, Grace frowned and shook her head, sliding into a chair on Nat's right before picking up her sandwich.

"I keep trying but...lately he's been coming home more tired and stressed than he was the day before and..I don't know I haven't figured out the right way to break the news to him without...stressing him out more I guess?" She shrugged and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully on the chunky mix of peanut butter and bread as Nat raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why would it stress him out more? If anything it would give him a reason to feel even a little happy again since you guys tied the knot. Heck, I've been feeling a little happier since you told me and I've got nothing to do with this baby." Natasha chuckled and Grace laughed softly with her.

"Now that's a load of tosh. You're the Godmother, Nat." She used her wrist to wipe a bit of peanut butter off of her lip. Natasha smiled at that and shrugged her shoulders.

"Still, you need to tell him tonight. The longer you wait, the harder it will get to summon the courage. Plus if you wait too long the baby will tell Steve for you." She laughed again and bent back over the computer.

This time Grace sighed and took another bite of her sandwich. "I know." Her left hand strayed back to her stomach which was still quite flat since according to her Doctor, she was only a couple weeks along.

"You know I'm actually surprised he hasn't figured it out for himself. What with you always feeling sick and extra tired these days. Steve's usually pretty intuitive." Natasha added with a shrug and Grace shrugged her own shoulder in return.

"He thinks it's because of all the charity work we do everyday. I did actually have a chest cold last month remember?" She gave Nat a pointed look which Nat responded to with a curt nod.

"Yeah, but last I checked chest colds don't make you throw up." She retorted, making Grace snort with laughter again before she dug into the rest of her sandwich.

After a while of content silence, Grace scooted her chair over to see what Nat was working on on the laptop, careful not to bump any of the equipment.

"So what does Rhodey have for us today?" She asked, swallowing another bite of her peanut butter sandwich before peeking over Nat's shoulder.

With a furrow of her brow, Nat let out a soft puff of hair, blowing her ginger red bangs out of her face as she did so.

"Looks like someone bearing a strong resemblance to the Hawkeye was sighted off the coast of Indonesia. Intel indicates the trail might be cold by now, but I never leave a stone unturned." Natasha gritted her teeth before opening another file.

Grace nodded her head. "Then let's do this." She put her sandwich back down on the table and leaned in to help her best friend decipher some of the data.

...

"Hey Grace! I'm home!" The sound of the front door opening and slamming shut, drew Grace from her thoughts and she smiled at the familiar sound of Steve's deep strong voice.

Even though he sounded unbelievably exhausted and emotionally worn to the bone as he had every day for the past couple weeks since he began working as an unofficial neighborhood grief counselor, Grace always found comfort in hearing his voice and knowing he wasn't too far away from her.

"Kitchen!" She called back, quickly serving two plates with meatloaf, boiled potatoes and wild rice before Steve walked in, heaving a heavy sigh before making his way to her.

"That smells amazing Doll. What are we having? Wait...why didn't you eat dinner earlier? It's almost 8:30." He frowned at her, his hand pausing as he leaned over to press a kiss to his wife's cheek as the sudden thought occured to him.

Grace merely shrugged, fixing her husband with a reassuring smile as she turned to return his embrace. "I stopped by the compound and had a late lunch with Natasha. I didn't get hungry until about an hour ago." She leaned up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips which he reciprocated before heaving another sigh.

"Mmm, you still shouldn't have waited for me. I worry you'll get sick again." Steve worried, taking the plate Grace offered him before turning to make his way to the table. Grabbing her own food, Grace followed him and sat down in her usual spot directly across from the former Captain.

"I know, but I worry for you too. Especially when you stay out later like this." She responded, picking up her fork and sticking it into her slice of meatloaf.

Steve shrugged and poked around his own plate without responding, scratching his head in the way he did when he was really stressed.

"So...how did it go today? Are the Crawfords going to be okay?" Grace asked after awhile, chewing slowly on a bite of food as she watched Steve continue to stare at the contents of his plate without attempting to eat any of it.

Grace frowned noticing this. "Steve?"

"Iris had another meltdown." Steve finally looked up to meet his wife's gaze again and her expression fell completely.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry to hear that. Maybe I could visit them with you next time. Make a pot of spaghetti to bring them? A nice hot meal always seems to have a way of bring a little cheer to everyone." She tried to offer, but Steve only shook his head.

"The Crawfords lost all four of their children including their three month old baby, Grace. Iris had been holding him when he was snapped! And no matter what anyone says or try to do to help them deal, it won't ever be okay." Steve snapped, startling Grace since he never ever spoke to her this way.

Not even when the whole mess with the Accords was going on. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to stay calm.

"Steve, you're doing your best and so are they. That's all any of us can do and-."

"Yeah I know...I know, Grace. Doesn't make this situation suck any less though." Steve interrupted, stabbing his fork into his potatoes and slipping a bite into his mouth.

"You know after spending those past couple hours trying to talk Jack and Iris down, I almost feel a little guilty for still having a somewhat normal life. You know what I mean?" He murmured, not looking up from his plate.

Grace started to shrug. "I mean sure, we all lost a lot of friends, but..." Steve suddenly stood abruptly from his chair, making Grace jump a little at the scratching noise it produced.

"I'm getting some root beer, you want something to drink, Honey?" He asked, turning to glance over his shoulder at her. Grace lightly brought her fingers up to her lips and shook her head, hoping Steve couldn't tell how distressed she was feeling.

"I'm okay." She mumbled, internally cursing herself when she heard her voice crack. Steve gave her an unconvincing look. "You sure?" When Grace nodded, Steve sighed softly and went back to the kitchen closing the door behind him.

As the soft thud of the door echoed briefly around the dining room, Grace lost her struggle and broke down into tears.

Steve wasn't the only one who felt powerless in the face of the neverending suffering they were confronted with on a daily basis.

Even though everyone Grace visited with and brought meals to regularly seemed to be doing moderately well now given the circumstances, the pain of loss was evident in every pair of eyes and strained smile she saw and though she tried to act strong, it tore at her every time.

Then the last words Steve spoke before he got up to get a drink rang through her head and Grace felt her throat close up. Did he really feel that guilty about the life they were still able to have despite all the devastation around them?

Would he feel even worse when he found out they were going to be welcoming a baby of their own into their lives soon when people like the Crawfords had theirs cruelly ripped from them?

Grace barely managed to stifle a whimper when she heard a familiar set of footsteps returning towards the dining area.

_Dang it! Get it together Grace! You didn't cry when you found Bucky standing over Steve's unconscious body by the Hudson, you didn't get upset when Steve had to leave you to get captured at that airport so he could get Bucky to Siberia and you sure as heck aren't going to start crying now just because you're feeling a little insecure! You're an Avenger for Pete's sake and more importantly, Steve loves you! He's just been stressed is all. Just like you!_ Grace tried to be firm with herself, but it was no use.

"Hey, I got you some water since I know you...Darling, are you okay?" Steve trailed off, his face falling in alarm when he walked back to the table with a can of root beer and a tall glass of water in his hands to see his best girl weeping into her hands in a way that told him she was trying and failing to stop.

Setting the drinks down on the table, Steve hurried around the table and knelt at Grace's side, trying to take her hands and remove them from her face.

"Grace, why are you crying? What's wrong? Are you feeling sick again? Did something happen on one of your visits? Talk to me Darling, please!" He pleaded, feeling his heart shatter into a billion pieces when Grace looked up at him with a look that was a mixture of sadness and fear shining her eyes as tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

"Do you..." She began shakily with a sniff as she attempted to regain control over herself. "Do you really feel guilty about us?" Grace asked, wincing as if afraid to hear the answer.

Steve looked shocked, though his cheeks heated uncomfortably when he recalled his earlier remarks at the table and realized how his wife had taken them.

"I-No!...No of course not!...I only meant that it's hard seeing everyone grieving because they've lost half or more of their loved ones and there isn't much I can do to help them besides help them talk through it and try to be a good listener." He leaned up and pulled Grace into a tight yet loving hug and she melted into his embrace.

"Sometimes," Steve continued, rocking back and forth a bit with Grace in his arms. "Especially with cases like the Crawfords I feel like I can't even properly help them at all, because I still have you and I don't know what it's like to lose your own children. You're actually the only reason I'm able to keep doing this day after day, Doll. Do you know that?" Steve continued and Grace responded by wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You do the same for me, Steve." She whispered and Steve gave a strained smile before nuzzling his nose into her shoulder, catching the faint scene of Grace's shampoo from her hair.

"I love you Grace. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone else in my life time. I know this...first year of marriage hasn't exactly been the most ideal, but I promise there's no one else I'd rather be going through all this crap with."

Suddenly he straightened his posture and pulled away a bit, just far enough so that he was looking into her eyes again without completely releasing his wife from his embrace. "I'm really sorry for upsetting you and making you feel like I didn't appreciate you, Doll. Can you ever forgive me?" He asked, gently holding Grace by her shoulders with tears shining in his own eyes as he waited for her respond.

Taking a deep breath, Grace raised her right hand to wipe away the moisture from her face before sliding off her chair and kneeling on the floor in front of Steve.

"Of course I forgive you Steve." She reached up and put her hands on his shoulders as if to steady herself. "And I love you too. So much." She finished leaning forward to envelope his strong warm body in her arms again.

With a relieved smile and a soft choked sounding chuckle, Steve reciprocated her gesture, pulling her close enough for her to almost be sitting on his lap.

"Thank you Darling." He murmured into her shoulder, enjoying the feel of holding the woman he loved so close to him.

"Just...maybe next time you're feeling this stressed or upset about what we're doing and I'm trying to help make it better, let me." Grace suggested with a bit of cheekiness in her tone as she sniffed audibly.

Steve chuckled in response. "Yes Ma'am. I'll try." He sniffed as well and turned his head to press a soft kiss to the side of Grace's neck.

"And...maybe after dinner we can make those no-bake chocolate oatmeal and peanut butter cookies and bring them to the Crawfords? You said Iris loved them the last time I made them for one of your support groups."

Steve nodded. "Sounds like a plan. We should pair it with some tea too to help them sleep better tonight." Grace nodded in agreement before continuing.

"Of course. And Steve?"

"Hmm?" Steve mumbled into the crook of her neck, his breath making the spot tickle a bit.

"If...you really want to know what it's like to have your own kids...I just want you to know you'll be able to find that out in about...nine months or so." She mumbled the last part, squeezing her arms a little tighter around Steve's torso as if afraid he might slip out if she didn't hold on.

Steve chuckled again. "Hmm, well that's...wait!" He stiffened suddenly and pulled back a bit from Grace's arms, his face suddenly devoid of much color and his eyes as wide as their dinner plates.

"Grace are you...? A-are you...?" He stammered, his eyes moving from Grace's still wet brown ones to her stomach before flicking back up again.

Nodding in response to the question he seemed unable to spit out, Grace took his right hand and put it against her abdomen.

"I am. I know we never really talked about this given..everything." She shrugged. "But I got it confirmed about two weeks ago. I'm sorry I never said anything until now, but I was afraid to put more stress on you." Grace croaked, feeling tears sting her eyes again as the words she'd been holding back for what seemed like forever.

A breathy cough erupted from Steve's throat then and Grace jumped a bit as his fingers squeezed a bit at the sensitive skin on her middle, his blue eyes fixated back down on the spot again.

"Wow!...I mean, wow!" Steve glanced back up at Grace with the biggest grin, the former Avenger had ever seen on him.

"We're...we're going to have a baby! Us!" He looked back up at Grace and she let out a watery laugh while nodding in affirmation.

"Yes Steve. We're going to have a baby. Us. A couple of has-been Avengers who now spend their days grief-counseling and cooking meals for fellow broken souls." She chuckled making Steve laugh a little harder than he was before.

"I love you, Grace." He said after the laughter died down a bit. "And..I can't wait to meet whoever this is in your belly." He stroked his fingers over Grace's stomach again and this time she grasped his larger hand in her own.

"Me neither, but...do you think we can get up now and finish dinner before it gets too cold? I worked really hard on it." She giggled softly and Steve responded by pulling back into his arms, this time for a sweet yet passionate kiss.

"Of course, Love." Steve smiled after breaking the kiss. "Anything for my best girl." Grace beamed and wiped the last of her tears from her face before reaching out and taking Steve's hands when he offered them to help her up from the floor.


	5. How'd You Meet?

(Hey all! I'm happy some of you seem to be enjoying my Steve and Grace fics a lot so here is an other one, this one set in Captain America Civil War. Hope you enjoy! I own nothing but my OC.)

...

"All right...We're here." Steve stated softly as he deftly tried to manuever the jet carefully onto the frozen Siberian ground below.

He glanced over his shoulder to where Bucky was, but the former assassin had already moved to open the weapons' compartment in the back of the jet.

Steve sighed and got up to join him after landing the jet, grabbing his shield and strapping it to his back while Bucky selected an assault rifle.

"Ready?" Steve asked, coming to join Bucky as the two prepared to disembark from the jet.

Bucky shrugged, tucking his weapon of choice securely under his arm as the ramp began to lower.

As the jet opened up and the old bunker came into view, Bucky's frown deepened knowing what he and Steve were about to walk in to and Steve noticed.

"Hey..do you remember that time we had to ride home from Rockaway Beach in the back of a freezer truck?" Steve asked, giving his old friend a warm and slightly laughing smile.

Bucky's frown turned more thoughtful and he turned to face Steve. "Was...was that the time we spent all our train money on hotdogs?" He asked, a smile finally peeking at the corner of his mouth as the memory came to him.

Steve scoffed softly. "Actually it was because _you_ blew $3.00 at one of the games trying to win a teddy bear for a redhead." He countered and Bucky chuckled.

"Oh yeah...what was her name again?" He asked, furrowing his brow. "Dolores." Steve answered readily. "You called her Dot."

Bucky glanced at his friend and sighed, shaking his head. "Man, she's got to be at least a 100 years old by now, Steve." He murmured, using his free hand to push his hair back from his face.

With a laugh, Steve turned and clapped a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "Hey!..So are we Pal." He snickered then turned to start heading down the ramp.

With another shake of his head, Bucky moved to follow him quickly falling into step next to him despite the ice and snow.

"So...what about your girl?" He asked once they'd gotten about halfway to the base entrance. "The one we had to leave behind in Germany. How'd you meet her?"

Steve paused slightly, grimaced as if something had bit him then continued walking. "She's not...well, we're not officially..." He started and trailed off, feeling his cheeks grow warm despite the freezing temperature as Bucky stared at him.

A slight smirk quirked the side of his face. "Oh wow, you must really like this one. Not that I blame you." He chuckled, smirking to himself.

Steve clenched his jaw and kept his gaze forward. "This isn't the time for this, Bucky." He muttered, sounding annoyed.

Now it was Bucky's turn to sigh. "Come on Pal. I saw the way you looked at her just before we ran for the jet. Besides we're in the middle of nowhere at an abandoned base. Who's going to hear anything other than me?" He asked, shifting his gun into his metal hand as Steve stopped walking again about five feet away from the door.

Finally he sighed.

"Her name's Grace. She was a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent before we both became Avengers." He said quietly, his chest clenching as he tried not to think about the pained look that had marred Grace's expression the last time he'd seen her.

"Well I know that much. She told me that in the car. Now how'd you guys meet?" Bucky pressed, moving to stand in front of Steve as the Captain stared at the ground.

"She...was there almost since the beginning. When I woke up." Steve finally consented. "It was in New York City..."

...

"This is Agent Collins, checking in. The package is on its way to the retrieval point. I'm headed for debriefing. Repeat. I'm headed in." Grace reported calmly, gently pulling into the next intersection as she waited for her superior to respond.

"Excellent work, Agent 21. You finished a day sooner than expected. I would say I'm impressed, but to do that I'd have to forget who it is I'm talking to." Coulson responded, the amusement faintly audible in his tone.

Grace emitted a half smirk as she gently eased off the brakes. "I learned from the best." She responded, her expression dropping into a frown when she realized the traffic wasn't moving.

"Hold that thought, Grace. I'm getting an alert for a code green. Looks like our "Man Out of Time" finally rejoined the living." Coulson's tone shifted suddenly and Grace felt her body tense at his words.

"The Captain? Is he okay? Why is there a code green?" Grace asked, reaching to adjust her rearview mirror before inching ahead on the road.

"He's broken out of the facility. Apparently, the recovery room plan didn't go well and he took out all of Agent 18's back up. Fury has already ordered a squad to go after him." Coulson responded quickly.

Grace pursed her lips together. "Coulson, you have to tell Fury to send the squad back. I'll go after the Captain myself and bring him in." She decided, flicking the hazard button on her car before putting it in park and jumping out of the driver's seat.

"Grace, this isn't your call. Stay where you are. This man received the original Super Soldier Treatment back during the second World War and his physical strength is almost ten times that of a normal person. You just got back from a mission. He'll-."

"You're forgetting who you're talking to again, Director Coulson." Grace cut him off, slamming the car door shut and taking off at a sprint down the street while flicking on her wrist monitor.

"I know better than anyone else in the organization, what it's like to wake up in a strange place surrounded by people you don't know if you can trust. If his reaction was anything like mine was, sending another armed squad is only going to make things worse. Please ask Director Fury to send the squad away and let me handle this!" She opened a fist and lightly flexed her fingers, feeling them tingle as she rounded a corner.

Glancing down briefly to check her position on her wrist monitor, Grace quickly scanned the street, catching a glimpse of a large white blur rushing down the street before taking off again.

"Grace, you're going to have to cut off the squad yourself. Fury's in pursuit of the Captain as well. I can't reach him!" Coulson responded quickly and Grace sighed as she slid over the hood of a car to get to the middle of the road.

"Copy that." She retorted, flicking off her ear piece just as she reached the main intersection and barely stopping herself in time to avoid a collision with her panicking blonde target.

"Whoa!...Are you okay?" Grace asks, her breaths coming out in short breathy puffs as she reached out with her arms instinctively to steady herself.

Having nothing else to grab, her fingers closed tightly around a pair of thick warm elbows which were lightly moist with sweat due to the running the owner of the elbows had done prior to their collision.

"I'm...I'm fine! Are you okay?" A man with a soft head of blonde hair, dark blue eyes and a thin sheen of sweat covering his pale face and arms asked, in between short shallow intakes of air.

Grace nodded only to realize a second later that Steve had grabbed her upper arms in the same instant that she had his elbows to catch his own balance.

Realizing this at the same time she did, Steve instantly dropped his grip, making Grace do the same when his arms fell back away at his sides.

"I-I-I just..." The man stammered, stumbling backwards a bit as he wiped his palms off on the legs of his khakis. "I'm sorry!"

Sensing his panic, Grace stepped carefully forward and held up her hands in a surrendering gesture.

"Hey it's okay. I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Grace." She said gently, hardly noticing as cars zoomed past her, most of the drivers shouting obscenities and making rude hand gestures as they passed.

Her focus was on the man in front of her who was visibly attempting to control his breathing as he tilted his head trying to assess if she was trustworthy or not.

"Grace." He said breathily after a moment. Grace nodded her head, allowing herself a slight smile to try to ease him.

"And you are?" She asked even though she recognized the man's face pretty quickly after getting over her brief fright over nearly running him over.

_He looks just like the picture on Dad's poster._ Grace thought, a gentle sentimental smile appearing on her face.

"S-steve...Steve Rogers, Ma'am. I don't...could you...?" He continued to stutter, staring around bewilderedly as if he'd suddenly found himself standing in the middle of Munchkin Land.

"It's okay." Grace repeated again as she took another step closer to him. "I know this is a lot to take in, but you're going to be okay, I promise. You're still in New York just...it's probably been about 70 years or so since you last saw it." She said tentatively, wondering as she spoke the words if it was a good idea to reveal that much information to her new acquaintance.

"Seventy yea..." The words died on his lips and he looked around again this time looking more sad and crestfallen then confused.

Seeing his lip tremble slightly, Grace started to move a little closer towards him when a slew of sleek black armored vehicles suddenly slid around the intersection moving until they'd formed a protective blockade around both Grace and Steve.

As a regiment of armed strike force agents started to pour out of the cars, Grace reactively stretched her arms out and focused on pushing out the energy she felt burning through the emotions in her core out through her fingers.

Steve turned and gaped when he saw a large clear kinetic forcefield appear seemingly from thin air cutting off the strike force from their location.

The panic beginning to rise up again in his expression, Steve quickly swiveled his head from the barrier to Grace and back again.

"H-how did you...? What did you...?"

"At ease, Agent 21!" A booming and authoritative third voice cut the former Captain off and both Steve and Grace turned to see a tall, dark and broad shouldered man step casually around the driver's side door of his car before slamming it shut behind him.

"We got it from here." He started to step towards the barrier, but Grace made no move to shut it down.

"With all due respect, Director Fury. I don't feel comfortable lowering the barrier until the squad has been ordered to stand down." Grace responded steadily, careful not to sound impertinent as she gave a her superior a pleading yet uncompromising look.

"Please? The Captain's not a danger to anyone." She added softly.

The man Grace had just addressed as Fury glanced at Steve briefly for a moment, then shrugged and turned to make a hand gesture at the squad that was lined up armed and ready on the other side.

Slowly each agent began to disappear back into their respective vehicles and Grace waited until the last person had gotten in before exhaling deeply and releasing the energy she was pouring into the barrier.

Steve blinked as the forcefield disappeared as quickly as it had once appeared.

"Ah! Much better." Fury remarked as he stepped closer to the two people standing in the middle of one of New York's busiest streets. "You all right now, Captain Rogers?"

At the sound of his formal title, Steve turned abruptly to face the dark faced stranger. "I uh...I'm not sure." He answered honestly. Fury nodded calmly as if expecting this answer.

"A little disorientation is to be expected. I'm sorry about that charade we set up back there, but we thought it would be better to ease you into things one bit at a time. Obviously, we got something wrong." He came to a stop about six feet away from where Steve stood.

Grace frowned when she saw Steve's breathing pick up a bit. "Sir, I-."

"What's going on here?" Steve interrupted, his chest beginning to heave again with the intensity of his breaths. "She said this is New York, but why doesn't it look like New York?" He asked, nodding at Grace. "Why don't I recognize anything?"

Fury tilted his head to the side. "Well, that's because the year is now 2011. You've been asleep in a block of ice since you went down in that plane, Captain. A lot's changed in the world since 1943. New York too."

A deep shuddering sigh passed through Steve's body then and he turned, meeting Grace's gaze again before looking towards one side of the street than another.

Grace watched him with a soft worry in her eyes. "You sure you're going to be all right, Captain?" Fury asked after a moment.

Steve took another breath and finally seemed to be calming himself. "Yeah it's...it's just that I had a date." He said sadly and almost longingly, staring down the street as if expecting his date to suddenly show up on the sidewalk.

A deep frown crossed Grace's expression then and she looked down at her feet.

"Well...I'm sorry to hear that." Fury responded sincerely. Grace exhaled slowly and forced herself to look back up.

"Steve?..Do you want to go somewhere quieter?" She asked carefully after a minute, knowing that they couldn't block New York main traffic forever and that Steve needed to get away from the chaos of the city so that he could begin calming himself and figuring out where to go next.

Steve dropped his gaze, his right hand almost unconsciously clenching into a fist as he stared at the cold asphalt beneath his feet. Finally he allowed himself a slight nod.

Grace clenched her jaw and turned to face Fury with a look that was more supplicating than the intense warning one she had shot him with earlier.

"Permission to take him to a safe house, Director Fury?" She asked. Fury nodded his head. "Granted. Take good care of him, Agent Collins. We'll be keeping touch." The Director promised, turning to get back into his car again.

Grace nodded her head. "Thank you, Sir." She waited until Fury and the rest of the squad had driven off down the road before returning her focus on the man beside her.

"Ready to get off the street?" She asked with a slight smile. Steve snapped his head back in her direction.

"W-where are we going?" He asked, sounding slightly worried.

Grace softened her smile. "To a safe house on the outskirts of the city. Come on, I think we've caused enough excitement for one day, don't you think?" She asked, turning to move towards the sidewalk and glancing back to see if Steve was following.

When he remained rooted to his spot, Grace sighed and moved back towards him. "Steve?" She addressed him carefully. Steve looked up at her with a bit of hesitance.

"I know I can't really make you trust me right away, but..I promise I'm not going to do anything to hurt you. Do you believe me?" She asked softly and sincerely.

Steve stared at her for a few seconds, then he sighed and began to slowly walk over to her. "Yeah I guess so." Grace gave him a grateful half smile.

"Good enough for now. Come on! My car's not far." She gestured with her shoulder. Steve studied her for a second longer before nodding in compliance.

"All right...Who was that man by the way? And who were all those people in the cars? Are you one of them?" Steve asked, hardly giving himself a chance to breathe in between his questions.

Grace pressed her lips together thoughtfully before she answered. "They are from S.H.I.E.L.D. Agency. He is my boss and yes I'm an agent. That's all I'm going to tell you about that right now though." She said hopping up onto the sidewalk and thinking for a moment before turning in the direction of the side street where she'd left her car.

Steve quickly fell into step beside her. "So...should I call you Agent 21 now or maybe Agent Collins?" He asked, a bit awkwardly.

Grace bit her lip to keep back the snort of laughter that threatened to burst from her at the cute formality of his question.

"Just Grace is fine, Captain. My Mom's the one who gave me my name so I like for people to use it when I'm not on duty." She said, turning to give Steve a warm smile as they continued to walk briskly down the sidewalk, the main street traffic continuing on beside them as if nothing had disturbed it before.

Steve slowly returned the smile.

"Well in that case then, you can call me just Steve instead of Captain or Captain Rogers, Ma'am. My full name is Steven, but everyone I knew just called me Steve." He shrugged sheepishly and this time, Grace allowed herself a little laugh.

"Okay then Steve, but my name's Grace not Ma'am." Grace bantered back, still smiling when a faint blush colored Steve's cheeks.

"Sorry Ma-uh...I mean Grace." He hastily corrected himself, making himself chuckle in the process. Grace joined in, feeling her own cheeks warm at the sound of his laugh, but she quickly ignored it.

"Well if we have that figured, what do you say we get some tea to settle the nerves first, then go shopping for some new clothes for you before we head to the safe house? You may be a Super Soldier, but I'm guessing the concrete still doesn't feel too good on your bare skin." She said, gesturing down to the ground as she continued walking.

Steve glanced down at his feet and scratched his head. "Oh!...Yeah I guess shoes would be nice...and I would need some other clothes to wear other than...whatever this is." He pulled at the thin fabric of the white t-shirt he was wearing.

Grace just nodded and gestured with her head for her new companion to keep following her. "All right then. You're lucky by the way that I was just coming in after a mission when I got the alert from one of my about you. Otherwise we'd have to make an awkward trek into S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters where I suspect you gave everyone a heart attack not ten minutes ago." She said half jokingly and hoping Steve wouldn't take offense at what she said.

He only blushed harder. "I should apologize to them for that. I kinda left a mess back there and the dame...oh Gosh-!"

"Hey! It's okay." Grace interrupted, grabbing his hand and giving it a light squeeze. "You didn't know where you were or what was happening. It was natural to freak out. Besides it's nothing Agents of Shield have never dealt with and I doubt you accidentally trapped half the squad on the walls like I did so...there's that consolation." She shrugged with a sheepish grin, pulling her hand away when she realized she was still holding Steve's hand.

Steve hurried after her as they rounded the corner. "Wait! I'm sorry, you did what?" He asked, sounding both confused and concerned as they reached the car Grace had left running by the curb.

His bewilderment made Grace laugh and she shook her head as she unlocked the car and opened the front passenger side door. "I'll tell you about it some other time, Steve." She shrugged, glancing back at Steve and motioning to the inside of the car.

Steve stared at her for a moment longer before sighing and moving to get inside. "Okay then." He muttered, pulling the door shut after himself as Grace got in on the driver's side.

Pulling her seatbelt on, she started to hit the ignition when her eyes fell on the empty buckle next to Steve.

"Uhhh Steve?" She asked, gnawing on her lip. Steve looked innocently over at her. "Yes Ma'am?" He replied casually.

Grace motioned at the buckle." Seatbelt on please." She said in a quiet voice, ignoring the fact that he called her Ma'am again. Brows furrowing in confusion, Steve looked around himself.

"Uhhhh..." He searched around for a moment before his eyes fell on the thin leather strap hung against seat on his left.

Grace nodded when he pulled the strap out a bit and looked at her again as if asking for her confirmation.

Still confused, Steve started to pull the strap around when it jammed and made an angry buzzing sound. With a deepening frown, Steve gave it a slightly harder tug.

"Here..." Grace started to lean over to help him when a tremendous ripping sound made them both freeze.

"Oh no!" Steve blanched as he stared in horror at the remains of the strap in his hand. He looked guiltily over at Grace. "I'm so sorry, Grace! I didn't mean to..."

Steve trailed off when the shocked look on Grace's face suddenly changed into a grin and she turned away to stifle a laugh. "Oh, it's okay. I'll just..drive slowly." She shrugged, moving to start the car.

Steve started to protest when the engine rumbled to life causing him to grip the armrests on either side of his seat by instinct, losing the broken piece of the seatbelt he had been holding in the process.

"All right?" asked Grace, noticing the look on Steve's face as she returned her hand to the steering wheel.

Taking a deep breath, Steve nodded. "I'm all right." He glanced over at her and Grace nodded with satisfaction, giving him a reassuring smile before facing front again. "Good. Hang on."

Lightly, she toed the accelerator and pulled out onto the middle of the road, unaware that Steve was still staring at her.

...

"Wow!" Bucky breathed when Steve finished. Steve nodded and continued walking towards the bunker.

"Yeah. After that the rest was history." He shrugged. Bucky followed after him.

"So you're going to go back for her right? You're not going to leave a Dame like that. Especially after what she did to make sure we got here." He continued and Steve finally looked back at him.

"Of course I'm going back for her. We're going to go get everyone that fought for us once we're done here." He responded, hitting a button on the panel next to the door.

Bucky shook his head as the door hissed open. "If you two end up getting married, remember I called it first." He murmured as he went inside the bunker first, his eyes quickly flashing over every corner as he checked for any hidden hostiles.

Steve followed close behind with his shield held at ready, glad that it was dark inside so that Bucky couldn't see that his cheeks were still red.

"Even if she wanted that too, I don't know if our lives will ever allow us to have it, Buck." He said with a sigh as he and Bucky slowly made their way to an elevator.

"Especially now with most of the country turned against us."

Bucky hit a button inside and leaned against the side wall before fixating his old friend with a steely look.

"Do you love her, Steve?" He asked quietly.

Steve nodded his head. "I do." He licked his lips.

"Then don't lose her like you did the rest of us. Go get her and don't leave her behind again. I only knew her for a little bit, but I'm pretty sure she loves you too. I could see it when she yelled at you to leave." Bucky said sincerely, locking his gun as the elevator clanged to a stop.

Steve sighed as the outer doors opened. "It's complicated though." He shrugged as he turned to pull open the rusty old chain linked gate in front of him.

Bucky gave his friend an incredulous look before turning to lead the way out of the elevator once Steve had opened the gate.

"Didn't seem that complicated when you kissed her like there was no tomorrow when we met up with her and her friend. You gave us all quite a show back there as I recall." He said with a barely concealed grin as he rehardened his features.

Steve jerked his head up and mock glared at Bucky, the blush back on his face. "I...Oh shut up, Jerk." He gave up and lightly nudged Bucky with his elbow.

"Make me, Punk." Bucky didn't miss a beat, elbowing Steve back. Cracking a smile, Steve shook his head and raised his shield, peering down the narrow corridor that lay before them.

_It's almost like old times._


	6. Peggy

(So I initially had no idea where I was going with this and then this story turned out to be much MUCH longer than I originally intended haha. However it was fun to write and I hope you guys will enjoy this little pre-romance story of Steve and Grace. I knew I wanted to write at least one story with Peggy in it and hopefully I managed to keep Steve and Grace in the friendzone here haha. I plan to write one about Grace telling Steve about her backstory soon as well as some others connected to some of the other movies. Enjoy! I own nothing but my OC.)

...

"...and that is how you send a text." Grace grinned as she watched Steve's expression turn into one of intrigue and light confusion as he stared at the screen of his phone.

"Huh..doesn't seem too hard to remember." He said thoughtfully, sitting back in his chair as a light breeze briefly ruffled his hair.

Grace shook her head. "No and sometimes sending a message like this is more convenient than trying to call someone. Especially when you're not sure if the person you're wanting to reach is able to answer the phone or not." She continued to explain, glancing down at her phone when it dinged alerting her to the practice text Steve had sent her.

"I'll keep that in mind." Steve nodded, looking back up at her before his eyes moved towards her phone. "Did it go through?"

Grace nodded. "Yes it did." She picked up the device and showed the screen to Steve before setting it back down again next to her near empty breakfast plate. "Should we take a look at the camera feature now or the music app?" She asked, leaning slightly forward across the table they were sat at on the back porch of the safe house.

Steve shook his head. "Can I just try sending another message again? I want to make sure I got it." He said, a hopeful look crossing his face with a mixture of slight bashfulness that Grace always found endearing in the man she'd been getting to know for the past four months.

"Sure. Have at it." Grace smiled and sat back in her chair, reaching for her half-filled cup of iced tea and taking a sip as she watched Steve bend back over his phone, brows furrowing as he got to work typing on the tiny keyboard with his large thumbs.

She looked down instantly when she heard a ding, but her brow creased in a frown when she saw the message on the screen.

_**Just got in from a visitation. She asked about him a lot today. How's he doing?**_

Grace suppressed a sigh, not wanting to alert Steve's attention. Setting her drink back down, she picked up the phone, re-read over the text again then bent down to send a quick response.

"Um Grace?" Steve looked up after a minute and Grace raised an eyebrow, careful to hide the screen of her phone from his view.

"My phone keeps trying to change what I'm trying to type. How do I make it stop?" Steve asked, holding up his phone again.

Grace glanced over it and gave a half smile, setting her phone face down on the table before leaning around and pointing at the set of words that popped up under the typing box.

"Just pick your word from here before you finish typing. If you want I can show you how to turn off the autocorrect feature. I did it on my phone like a week after I got it." She chuckled and sat back in her seat, picking up her phone again.

_**He's fine today. We're working on texting. He's really getting good with the phone by the way. How's she doing today?**_

Steve let out a sigh, shaking his head though a slight grin tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Things were so much easier when all you had to do with a phone was dial a number." The former Captain sighed, lightly pressing his lips together in concentration as continued poking at the screen of his phone a bit more.

Grace started to shrug and turned to look out at where the lake stood partially shrouded by the natural foliage and shrubbery that grew in the area, putting her phone down again.

"I bet, but you're doing really well, Steve." She moved her hand to tuck some loose strands of her hair back behind her ear as she listened to the soft sounds of the water lapping gently against the shore.

Steve gave her a brief appreciative smile before casting his gaze back down.

_**Same as always. The lapses have started happening a little closer to each other now though. You should bring him around to see her before it gets worse.**_

__Grace's frown deepened at the new message. Snatching up the device again she quickly typed out another response, hesitating only for a moment before hitting send.

_**I want to, but he's still having nightmares about his best friend. Sometimes I hear him saying her name too. I'm worried what seeing her the way she is now might do to him. Besides you know Fury's orders.**_

"You okay?" Steve's question made her jump a little, but Grace quickly put on a calm reassuring facade.

"I'm good. Just..messaging a co-worker about something." Grace shrugged, hoping Steve wouldn't question her further.

Looking only a tad suspicious, Steve shrugged and quietly continued to type out his message. "Okay. If you're sure."

Grace suppressed a sigh and turned away back to the lakeview, letting her mind wander just as two wild ducks swam into view. Their persistent little quacks soon drowned out the sound of the waves and Grace started to smile at the scene.

_**I know, but Director Fury's not the one who visits with Aunt Peggy in the mean time. No one knows how much time she has and it's been almost four months already. **_

__There was another ding and Grace turned a sad eye back to her phone.

_**It'll be soon. Fury's not that cold. Besides I don't want Steve to break. He's been making good progress with the therapist and I don't want to ruin that. **_

"Um..excuse me, Grace?" The touch of a warm hand instantly snapped Grace out of her thoughts and she turned embarrassed back to face the man who had been trying to get her attention for the past minute.

Seeing her startled expression, Steve withdrew his hand and flushed delicately before gesturing at his phone again. "Uh, could you tell me what these little pictures that popped up are? What do I use them for?" He asked sheepishly.

Grace leaned over to look at the screen. "Oh. They're called emojis. Sometimes when people text they use these little pictures to convey what they want to say instead of typing it out. Of course it's not considered proper to use them in a professional setting, but it can be cute or funny between friends or lovers." She shrugged and sat back in her chair, causing it to scrape across the concrete ground below her.

Steve merely nodded and picked up his phone again, his eyes raising to look at her again. "I see. So do I just tap on it if I want to use one?" He asked, maintaining eye contact.

Grace nodded, casting her gaze down and moving softly to shift her empty dishes to the side as she responded. "Yup. You got it. What are you writing there by the way, Captain? An essay?" She asked, partly to tease him a bit and partly to distract herself from Sharon's texts.

A light snort came from Steve's otherwise impassive form. "Not quite. Just trying to make sure I don't make any mistakes before I send it." He responded, lifting his left hand to scratch his head briefly before scooting up closer to the table with his phone still in front of him.

Grace nodded and groaned slightly when she heard her phone ring again.

Steve snapped his head back up at her. "You sure you're okay?" He asked, the concern clear in his blue orbs.

This time Grace did not answer him.

_**I understand. Really I do. But what if we wait too long and it becomes too late? I'd absolutely hate to see what that would do to Steve and I know you would too. **_

__"Grace?" His hand was on hers again and this time she flinched and jerked in her chair. Steve's face fell. "Something's wrong." He said in a low voice.

Grace shook her head, putting her phone away into her pocket. "No, it's...everything's fine, Steve. Let's-."

"You're crying." Steve interrupted, reaching his hand out and gently grazing her cheek with his fingertips. When he pulled his hand away, Grace saw a trace of moisture on his index and middle fingers.

Reactively, Grace put her own hand to her face and started in surprise when she realized Steve was right.

"It..it's probably the allergens outside. I'm okay." She lamely tried to play it off. Unfortunately Steve wasn't about to let it go that easily.

"Are you sure? You look upset about something. Is there anything I can do?" He asked, the hope lighting his expression through the concern.

Grace took a deep breath and shrugged, knowing she couldn't tell Steve what was going on yet.

"Anything." Steve continued, tentatively reaching for her hand again, but not touching her this time. "You've been there for me whenever I get upset or something. The least I can do is try to be there for you too." His smile widened and Grace felt herself smiling back before she shook her head and stood from the table.

"That's very sweet of you, Steve, but I promise I'm okay. It's just..work trouble." She moved to pick up the two plates, the forks, spoons and glasses, knowing she wasn't really lying this time.

Steve sighed, but nodded his head though he longer seemed so interested in finishing the message he was typing on his phone. "All right. If you're sure." He responded, letting his grip loosen on his cellphone.

Grace gave him as reassuring of a smile as she could manage. "I am. Thank you though. You're a real sweetheart." She secured the dishes in her arms and turned to walk back into the safehouse, missing the slight blush that colored Steve's cheeks at her compliment.

Sighing she strolled quickly into the kitchen and laid everything into the small sink before reaching for a sponge. After taking a moment to gather herself, she turned on the faucet and grabbed the detergent bottle.

...

"You never answered my last text." Sharon's eyes were narrowed slightly as she stood with arms crossed in the middle of the hall where the door to one of the many wards in this special care facility stood closed.

Grace sighed and shrugged her shoulders, running a hand through her hair as she met up her friend and co-worker. "I'm sorry. I didn't know how to respond, Sharon. I was actually considering at least talking to him a little more about Peggy yesterday, but then..." She trailed off and bit her lip, willing herself not to shed any tears this time.

Sharon's shoulders tensed sightly. "But what? Grace, are you seriously going to keep sheltering him like he's some delicate child? He's a grown man and Aunt Peggy-."

"He had a bad episode last night!" Grace cut her off, unintentionally speaking louder than she intended.

Stunned into slience, Sharon faltered slightly. "W-what?"

Grace looked up and fixated the blonde before her with a serious expression. "I was doing my usual rounds. Giving my regular report to Coulson. I was about to head down to the lake when I heard something crash from inside." She began, trying to keep her voice steady as she spoke.

"When I got to his room, Steve was sat up in his bed, looking like Death himself had visited him. When I got closer, I realized the lamp was broken and he was sweating, breathing so fast that he..." Grace paused again to regain her composure and noticed that Sharon looked really worried.

"It took me a full hour and a half to get him to calm down, Sharon. He...He kept calling her name! Saying that he was sorry over and over, even pushing me away when I tried to comfort him and bandage his hand...Sharon, you weren't there! You didn't see him! It was...terrifying!" Grace clenched her jaw, feeling tears well up in her eyes as she gazed pleadingly at her blanched friend.

"I want Steve to see Peggy again. I want him to know and see that at least one person he knew from his time is still around, but...I don't want him to break, Sharon! It's hard enough seeing him affected from his nightmares and flashbacks...please trust me on this? I will petition to Fury to let Steve visit Peggy soon, but only after his therapist clears him and I know he's ready."

Grace clasped her hands together and wrung her fingers in an attempt to re-ground herself. She mouthed the word "please" again.

Sharon's gaze dropped and she released a shaky breath as she took in the words she was told.

"I-I'm sorry." She finally managed, moisture seeping into her own eyes. "I didn't realize that...I mean I knew you were under orders I just thought that..well you know." She murmured. Grace sighed and gave her a sad yet knowing smile.

"I know, but he isn't mine to love." She said sincerely and Sharon gave a little sigh. "I guess." She turned to face the door again and reached for the knob before facing her friend again. "Ready?"

Managing a slightly wider smile, Grace nodded and Sharon pulled open the door. "Hey Aunt Peggy! It's me again. Grace is here too." She called quietly into the room where a frail looking elderly woman lay on a medical bed with an ID wristband on her right arm and a cannula in her nose.

She awoke hearing Sharon's voice and a wide smile broke over her face when she saw Sharon and Grace approaching her bedside. "Oh Girls!...I was hoping I'd get to see you two today. How is Steve doing, Grace?"

Peggy asked, her voice sounding soft and raspy as she tried to sit up. Sharon quickly moved to raise the bed to the right height with the remote control.

Grace shrugged, taking a seat in a chair on Peggy's left. "He's...making progress. His Therapist is with him right now. He's starting to get the hang of texting." She smiled, seeing Sharon lower herself to a spot on right side of the bed next to her Great Aunt.

Peggy smiled back. "Good. I'm glad he's doing okay. Thank you so much for staying by his side, Grace. You know, I would go to him if I could." She started to cough a little then and Grace winced as Sharon moved quickly to grab the glass of water sitting on the end table beside her.

Leaning towards her, her Peggy accepted the glass and took a couple sips before looking back up at her Great Niece.

Sharon gave a brave smile when her Great Aunt's turned watery. "Oh!...Sharon, you're here! And this is your friend?" Peggy asked, tears appearing in her eyes as she turned back to where Grace sat.

Grace tried her best to appear unaffected while Sharon bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, Aunt Peggy. It's me and my friend Grace. She's the one who's helping Steve right now." She grinned and Grace smiled back.

"Oh that's wonderful!" Peggy turned and carefully grasped Grace's hand in her own, a tear sliding down her cheek as she did so.

"Thank you! Thank you, Grace. Take good care of him for me, will you? Steve...he's a good man and he needs someone strong and kind to keep him steady. He always did have quite a soft heart, no matter how tough he liked to play." She chuckled and Grace chuckled with her, gently squeezing on Peggy's hand.

"I will, Ms. Carter. I promise. For as long as I can." She looked up to meet Sharon's gaze across the bed and Sharon nodded, an approving smile playing on her lips as well.

Grace looked back at Peggy. "And I promise...one day I'll bring Steve here to see you. He'll be so happy to know he hasn't lost you." She smiled wider.

Sharon gave her a slightly surprised look. Peggy chuckled. "Oh God bless you, Dear!" She squeezed Grace's hand with her warm wrinkly one. "I can't wait to see him! Tell me about him meanwhile! Tell me everything! Does he still remember me?"

Grace swallowed back a lump, nodded and squeezed back on her hand. Sharon reached over and gently grasped her Great Aunt's arm in her hand with a sad smile on her face.

"Grace can't stay long, Great Aunt Peggy. She has to go to work soon. I'll tell you about Steve though. Grace has been telling me all about him." She winked at Grace and Grace returned the gesture.

Peggy gave her Great Niece a grateful smile and reached weakly with her other arm to wrap it around Sharon's waist. "Oh would you?" Grace managed a weak smile.

...

_**Steve Rogers**_

_** Hi Grace. I think I'm getting the hang of this texting thing. When will you be coming back to the safehouse?**_

__Grace sighed and smiled to herself as she read over the text Steve sent her while carefully making a turn onto the gravel road that would lead out of the main part of the city.

Taking advantage of a stop sign, Grace quickly sent a text back before continuing on her way.

_**I'm so proud. I'm actually almost there. Fury gave me something he wants me to give you today. He says someone turned them in shortly after they found you in the ice and he thinks you're ready to have them now. Whatever that means. How did it go with the Specialist?**_

__She took another right, slowing her car briefly to a crawl when a rabbit hopped out on the path and accelerating again once the creature had made it safely across the road.

Another resonating ping sounded from her phone as she drove past a cluster of trees, getting her first glimpse of the safehouse she first drove Steve to after that fateful day in Manhattan.

_**Sounds interesting. Things went well or as well as they usually do. I'll tell you about it more in person. Have you resolved those work issues you mentioned the other day?**_

__Grace lightly clenched her jaw at his last question. Pulling the car up in front of the house, she killed the ignition and jumped out, going around to the passenger side to pick up the box, Fury had handed her on her way out of a briefing for a mission she was advising.

Using her foot to kick the door shut, Grace strolled casually up the steps into the house, balancing the box in one arm so she could open the door.

"Steve?" She called tentatively, wondering if he was in the training room like he usually was after a therapy session.

When Steve's head popped up around the entry to the kitchen, Grace jumped a bit then let out sheepish chuckle.

"Geez! Give me a heart attack, why don't you?" She joked, still laughing as she turned and dropped the box on the couch.

Steve gave her a slightly bashful and apologetic smile in return. "Sorry. Did you figure out those problems at work you were worried about the other day?" He turned and gestured behind him with one arm, the smile widening before he yawned.

Grace shrugged. "Kinda. Are you still tired?" She asked, knowing Steve hadn't really slept much after waking up from his latest nightmare as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

Steve shrugged. "Nah, I snuck in a nap after my work out. Are you hungry? I made lunch if you uh...if you'd like." He said a bit awkwardly.

Grace's smile widened at that. "You made lunch? What for?" She asked, taking a few steps towards the kitchen doorway.

Steve looked down at his feet for a second and shrugged his shoulders, one hand going up to scratch his head. "Just wanted to. Especially after what I made you go through last night again. Plus I thought it might make you feel better about..whatever it was that upset you when you were helping me with texting. It's just sandwiches. I hope that's okay." He said, meeting Grace's gaze again as she got closer to him.

"Sounds good. But I already told you that it's okay. You don't have to apologize to me for the way you act during an episode. I understand." She softened her voice and Steve shrugged again, looking a little more self conscious.

"Still..." He started to turn to walk back into the kitchen at the same instant that Grace took a step into the doorway, resulting in the two of them getting awkwardly pinned by each other in the threshold.

Grace felt her face heat up when she noticed how her leg had wound up in between Steve's and that their faces were dangerously close to each other.

"Uh, I uh...I'm so sorry! This is-."

"Awkward?" Grace picked up the sentence and finished it for him, chuckling a bit in embarrassment as she silently tried to think of a way to get herself unwedged without creating an even more uncomfortable situation.

"I was going to say my fault, but yes. Uhh..." Steve chuckled weakly with her, his cheeks taking on a beet red shade as he too tried to come up with quick and harmless way to get out.

Unable to help the smile that stretched across her face at his remark, Grace finally reached out, grasped Steve by his shoulders to hold him still and shifted carefully to the side back towards the main area of the house.

"How about this?" She started, relaxing visibly when she successfully managed to free herself. Steve immediately relaxed as well though his cheeks were notably pink.

"How about you get lunch and I'll meet you in the living room with the box Fury sent along? You can look through it while we eat and tell me about your therapy session if you want." Grace suggested, nimbly wiping her hands on her pants as Steve accepted her answer.

"Sounds great! I'll be right back." He promised, turning quickly on his heel and stifling another yawn before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Grace sighed and turned to sit in the living room, grabbing the box again and setting it on the coffee table. As she grabbed her tablet to look over the specifics on the small recon assignment she was asked to advise, Steve reappeared from the kitchen with two plates and two tall glasses on a tray.

"They're uh..it's just ham and cheese. I hope that's okay." Steve said, still a bit awkwardly as he set the food down on the table next to the box and took a seat on the armchair next to the sofa where Grace sat.

Looking up from her tablet, Grace nodded and pushed the device off her lap to the side. "Ham and cheese is perfect. Thank you." She smiled, trying to hide her own lingering awkwardness as she accepted a plate and took a sip of the water Steve brought.

Nodding back, Steve leaned forward slightly and reached to grab the box, clearing his throat softly. "You're welcome." He lifted the flaps and peered inside.

"Oh my...!" He gasped, eyes growing wide as he reached into the box. Grace leaned over slightly to try to get a peek over his shoulder. "What is it?"

Steve let out a dry chuckle and sat back against his chair, holding a more than well worn leather bound book in his hands. A pencil was still stuck inside of it.

"It's my old journal." Steve said softly, slowly opening the cover and flipping through the pages. To give him some privacy, Grace started to lean away, nibbling on her sandwich.

"It must be the stuff they found in your old apartment." Grace stated, swallowing and taking another bite as Steve continued to flip through the journal.

Steve nodded. "Yeah. I usually used my journal for sketching, but I'd write something on occasion too. It's funny I should get this back now because the Therapist suggested that I try working through my anxiety with some sort of art activity." A sad smile appeared on his face then.

Grace sighed and put her sandwich back down on the plate. "Sounds like a good idea. Would you mind if I saw some of your drawings? You can say no." She asked, taking another sip of water as she watched Steve flip through another couple pages.

"I guess I don't mind. Oh! Here's one I did of my buddy, Bucky. As you can see by all the eraser marks, he did not want to sit still." Steve chuckled as he held up a page of his journal to reveal an intricate pencil sketch of the face of a young man.

Grace chuckled along at the slightly annoyed look on his face. "Wow!..You have a gift. This is amazing!" She grinned at the drawing. Steve blushed and shrugged.

"Well he certainly was a handsome guy, wasn't he? Even with the grumpy face. Nothing on you though of course." Grace teasingly nudged Steve in the arm.

Steve lightly scoffed at this. "Ha ha. Actually Bucky was always the one getting the girls. He'd try to set me up of course, but girls weren't interested in guys who were smaller than they were. Plus I was too caught up in trying to become a soldier to really care at the time." His smile turned sad and longing as he looked the sketch a while longer.

Grace frowned at that as Steve quickly turned the page and flipped past a few more entries and sketches, some of which didn't appear to have been finished.

Then her eye caught a particular sketch and she grabbed Steve's arm instinctively to stop him from flipping the page.

"Wait!...Is that Peggy?" She asked, looking down at a drawing of what was obviously a younger version of her friend and co-worker's Great Aunt, wearing a military jacket and hat.

Steve gnawed on his lip and nodded. "Yeah...she was something else. The first person to ever see me as anything, but that poor scrawny kid from Brooklyn." He reached a finger and gently traced the drawing.

"I started drawing this after one of my first shows as Captain America. At the base camp where Bucky's unit was stationed actually...God I miss her." He murmured longingly, making Grace's frown deepen and a dull ache settle in her chest as she took in the sad and distraught expression in her friend's face.

After thinking a moment, she reached over and lightly squeezed his forearm. "You'll get to see her again soon. I promise." She said softly.

Steve gave her a narrow eyed and slightly confused look in return. "How?"

Pulling away, Grace moved to bend over the open box and shifted a few items aside before picking up a set of manila folders held together by a large binder clip.

Silently, she held them out to Steve and he, after giving her another slightly suspicious look took the stack and began to look through them.

When he got to the last folder, he paused upon opening it and seeing the face of the young woman photographed on the first page of the basic profile pages inside.

**Agent Margaret Carter**

** Founding Member and Senior Director of S.H.I.E.L.D**

** Status: Retired...**

"So...where is she now?" Steve asked after scanning over the papers briefly. His moist blue eyes met Grace's dark brown ones again.

Clenching her jaw, Grace took a deep breath and straightened her posture.

"All I can tell you is that she's safe, she's alive and that soon you'll be cleared to visit with her." She cringed slightly, knowing Steve would not be satisfied with her answer.

Breathing softly in frustration, Steve nodded his head and glared slightly down at his shoes. Feeling her stomach churn with guilt when she saw the tears brimming his eyes, Grace sat back in her seat, looking down at her sandwich with distaste.

"When I went down into the ice..." Steve suddenly spoke and Grace jerked her head up, startled.

"I thought I'd lost her forever. Then I woke up in that room, you told me I'd been asleep for 70 years and it was like...I lost her all over again." Steve clenched his jaw as a single teardrop rolling down his cheek.

"We were supposed to have a date..go dancing...maybe more." Steve's voice cracked and Grace felt her chest ache and own eyes water when she saw more tears follow the first one.

"Steve, you _haven't_ lost her yet, okay? It won't be exactly the same, but..Peggy will be in your life again soon. I promise. Do you believe me?" Grace asked, scooting until her stomach hit the arm of the sofa.

Steve took a deep breath, wiped his eyes and nose and moved slowly to face her. "You sure she's all right?" He asked, his voice still wobbly with emotion.

Grace sighed, leaned over the arm of the sofa and reached towards Steve again, this time touching the side of the recliner instead of him.

"As all right as she can be." She said with soft honesty. Steve sighed again, nodded his head and finally gave her a weak smile.

"I believe you."

...

_Three Months Later..._

"All right! I think that's the last box. Do you want any help unpacking?" Grace asked as she set the box she was carrying down on a short pile on the floor of Steve's new apartment which S.H.I.E.L.D. had set up for him after he got cleared from rehabilitation.

"Nah." Steve sighed softly and shook his head, looking around at the small flat as well as the cluttered array of boxes and bags laying around it.

"You've already done so much and besides you're free now." He said with a wry smile, his hand going up to rub the back of his head. "Mission Rehab the Cap is complete, right?"

Grace let out a soft snort of laughter at that. "Well my assignment with you may be over, but...that doesn't mean our friendship has to be right?" She asked carefully carefully stepping around the stack of boxes she made.

Steve's smile widened the tiniest bit and he nodded his head. "I guess not. So where should we start then?" He asked with a shrug as he looked around again at the mess.

Grace shrugged. "How about we just start opening boxes and put away as we go? I think this box has that phonograph you purchased for the living room." She walked over to one of the smaller square shaped boxes and reached for the small knife she kept on her belt.

"Guess I'll open this box then. Can I borrow the knife when you're done, Grace?" Steve asked, picking up a box he had carelessly thrown on the small couch earlier.

Grace nodded and started to cut open her box. "Sure thing, Steve." She responded, sliding the knife blade pointed towards herself across the floor to him after severing all of the tape.

Steve caught it and got to work. "Thanks."

Grace pulled open the box flaps and grinned when she saw the shiny brass gramaphone packaged inside and carefully lifted it out. As she turned to set it down on the coffee table, she felt her phone vibrate against her leg and scrambled to grab it.

_**Sharon Carter,**_

_**Hey! I just got called out on an assignment. Sorry to bail. Aunt Peggy is still expecting you guys though. Have fun and give her my love! Tell Steve I said hi. :)**_

"What are you smiling about?" Steve's voice broke into her thoughts and Grace jumped a bit when the super soldier peeked hesitantly over her shoulder, a stack of plates and cups in his arms.

Grace shrugged and quickly answered Sharon's text before putting her phone away. "Oh...just messaging a friend about a "welcome home" gift she helped me arrange for you. She says hi by the way." She stood and made her way to the box to get the set up instructions out of it, not noticing the stunned look Steve was giving her.

"You got me a gift? Grace, you didn't have to do that!" Steve protested slightly and Grace shrugged, smirking softly to herself.

"I know, but I did. I'm really happy and proud of all the progress you've made these past several months and...this is something I've been wanting to do for you for awhile. Especially since we won't be staying in the same building anymore." She set the manual for the phonograph on the table then turned back around to face Steve, the empty box balanced in one hand while she extended the other to him.

"Knife?"

"Oh! Sure!" Steve quickly handed the tool, handle out to her and Grace accepted it gratefully. "Thanks!" She moved to sit back on the floor and proceeded to tear through the rest of the tape to flatten the box.

Steve sat down with her. "So...what is it?" He asked hesitantly as if he were embarrassed to ask. Grace looked up at him and blushed.

"You'll see. We'll head out in about thirty minutes." She glanced at her watch. Steve sighed and nodded. "All right. I trust you. I'll be back after I put these plates away in the kitchen then." He stood carefully and turned to make his way across the living room.

Chuckling, Grace nodded in response, setting aside the flattened box and reaching for another. "Take your time." She bent over the box.

...

"Can I open them now?" Steve asked for what seemed like the millionth time since they left Steve's new apartment.

Grace rolled her eyes and quickly put her hand over Steve's eyes when they started to flutter. "Not yet...Steven Grant Rogers, don't you dare peek!" She laughed as she eased onto the accelerator again and drove down a few more blocks.

Steve let out a dramatic sigh. "Come on, now you're using my full name? I'm older than you, you know." He joked, a slight grin curling at one side of his mouth.

Grace laughed at this. "Oh ha ha. Just keep your eyes shut until I say, Steve. We're almost there." She said, pulling her arm away so she could properly steer the car.

Steve laid his head back against the headrest of his seat, but did as he was told. "Fine, but this surprise had better be worth it." He grumbled playfully and Grace's smile tensed the tiniest bit as she finally pulled up in front of the familiar white washed building.

"I think it will be. Okay, you can open them now." She responded, putting the car in park before shutting off the ignition.

Steve opened his eyes just as he heard the car engine die. His brows furrowed in confusion when his gaze fell on the building in front of him.

"Where are we?" He asked. Grace unbuckled her seatbelt. Looking over at her friend, she leaned over and gently put her hand on his shoulder.

"We're here to visit Peggy."

Steve swiveled his head around at that so fast, Grace thought he would give himself a whiplash. "Peggy's here?" His eyes widened to the size of plates.

Grace nodded, clenching her jaw. "Yes, but before we go in, there's something I have to tell you first." She lightly tightened her grip on Steve's shoulder.

Steve silently nodded his head to let her know he was ready to listen.

"Peggy...she's been..sick for awhile now. Some days are better than others, but...just be warned she may forget things or act strangely from time to time while you're with her. It'll be hard, but try not to let it upset you too much, all right?" She said carefully, reading Steve's expression for any sign that he might not be ready for this visit.

Instead Steve took a deep breath and nodded his head. "I'll do my best." He turned back to the view of the special care facility this time with a look of longing in his eyes.

Grace continued to watch his reactions.

"You...you're sure she remembers me?" Steve asked after a moment. Grace nodded and allowed herself to smile, fighting back against the lump in her own throat.

"Yes. She does. She asked about you every time I would visit with my friend her Great Niece and was always so happy when I'd tell her about all the progress you were making and how you were coping. If I know her as well as I think I do by now, she'll be as excited to see you as you are to see her." Grace lightly patted his shoulder before pulling away from him completely.

Turning back in her direction, Steve gave her a warm smile and reached to undo his own seatbelt. "Thank you, Grace." He said sincerely before leaning over to pull Grace into a sudden tight hug. "Thank you much."

Surprised since Steve was never one to initiate intimate actions, Grace froze for a moment before slowly and happily returning the embrace.

"You're welcome, Steve."

A few minutes later, they broke the hug and moved quickly out of the car and into the care facility with Grace leading the way.

Steve started to look a little nervous when they entered the lobby, but Grace gave him a reassuring nudge with her elbow before addressing the clerk at the reception desk.

"Hi. Grace Collins. I'm here to visit with Ms. Peggy Carter." She said cheerfully and the woman sitting across from her, returned her smile and nodded before turning towards her computer.

"Welcome back. Brought a new friend I see?" She asked, peering around Grace before giving a knowing wink to the agent.

Grace nodded. "It's a surprise for him and Peggy." She said and the woman nodded again, keying a few more things into the computer as Steve shuffled awkwardly from one foot to another, pretending to be interested in some of the medical posters on the wall.

"Very good. She's just woken up from a nap ten minutes ago. Have a good visit." She responded and Grace thanked her before nudging Steve again and leading him to the elevators.

Once they reached Peggy's room, Grace paused and stepped to the side to allow Steve to get to the door first.

Steve looked at the door, took another deep breath then looked at Grace. Grace gave him an inquiring look. "Are you okay?"

Steve nodded his head. "Just nervous." He shrugged seeming bashful. Grace gave him an understanding smile. "You'll be fine." She reassured, quickly moving her hand to flick a piece of lint off of his shirt.

Steve smiled back and breathing in through his nose, turned to face the door once again. Turning the knob, he slowly opened the door and peeked carefully inside the dimly lit room before a soft, aged voice spoke from inside.

"Sharon?...Grace, is that you girls? Why are you creeping at the door?" Peggy sounded confused.

Grace concealed a smile as Steve, blushing a bit pushed the door open wider and stepped inside. "Hi Peggy...It's me."

...


	7. Some Party

(Hey readers! Got a new Steve and Grace fic for you! Originally I was going to do one about when Steve rescues the team from the Raft prison, but then I came up with another idea for a fun story based on the Avengers party scene that happened in Age of Ultron and this is the result. I hope you like it. I own nothing but my OC.)

...

"So! How've you been hanging? Found a place in Brooklyn yet?" Sam asked with an easy smile as he finished taking his turn at the billiards table.

Steve sighed shook his head, moving around to line up his own shot. "It's been good. I've looked into a few apartments, but...a lot's changed. I don't think I'm going to be able to afford a place in Brooklyn, let alone all the additional amenities." He frowned a bit as he eyed the cue ball.

"I'm sure you will. I mean home is home right? Hey! Doesn't Grace live in Brooklyn?" Sam asked, snapping his fingers and pointing as if this fact had just occured to him.

Steve could see the glint in his eyes though and bit down on his lip before taking his shot. "She's been a little busy lately. She's offered to help out though." He said casually as the cue ball ran straight into the 8-ball and sent it into the hole, ending the game.

Sam did his best to hide his snickers. "Yeah okay. So tell me about that mission you guys went on then. I see you got the glow stick of destiny back." He gestured to the trophy stand where Tony had set Loki's staff on a pedestal shortly after the Avengers team had returned from the raid in Sokovia.

Steve nodded and turned to begin giving Sam the details, leaving out those he felt were unimportant to the telling.

"Wow! That's some crazy stuff. I'm kinda sorry I missed it all." Sam laughed, swirling his glass of beer around before turning to go up a glass staircase that led up to an upper level of the Stark Tower Luxury Lounge Hall.

Steve shrugged, a slight smirk quirking the side of his face as he set his pool stick aside and moved to follow him, chuckling at how lightly Sam took in everything he told him.

Then again, he supposed that nothing would faze Sam after what they went through together in Washington D.C. following the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Yeah well, those guys may not have been Winter Soldiers, but a couple of them still packed a good punch. In fact, if I'd known it would turn into such a fire fight, I would have called you join us." Steve said sincerely, looking down into his half filled glass before taking a little sip.

"Hmm. Thanks, but no thanks. I know Avenging's your life, but..I'm perfectly happy chasing down more cold leads on a certain missing person detail." Sam retorted taking a sip from his glass before continuing.

"Besides, I know you well enough by now to know you would have called your girl first before thinking of me." Sam snorted, smirking as he looked down at the guests who still lingered around at the party with Tony at the center.

"Not only does she have those freaky powers, but you two are practically joined at the hip when it comes to being in the fray together. What is it Stark calls her now? Future Ms. America?...Oh no! Capsicle's Bride! That's it!" Sam joked, earning an eyeroll from his friend in return.

"Very funny. You know she was on a separate assignment this time. Besides she's not my girl and we're not joined at the hip." He retorted, only a hint of longing in his voice as he carefully leaned his glass against the railing in front of him and combed through the identity of each person still enjoying themselves either at the bar, the pool tables or the general lounge area where Rhodes appeared to be regaling another group with his "Warmachine Story".

Still grinning, Sam nodded his head, not missing the longing look that crossed the Captain's face as he surveyed the party.

"I see, and when is your girl supposed to get back? Do you know?" He asked, pretending not to have heard his friend's last statement as he watched the pool game happening below.

Steve sighed and glanced up at the ceiling before lifting his glass again. "She said she should be back by tonight, but..I haven't heard anything from her team yet." He frowned, shook his head and watched the dark liquid swirl around in his cup for a moment before turning away from the party scene.

Sam gave him a knowing look. "Don't you have her number?" He asked, keeping his tone his casual as he took a swig from his own glass.

Almost coughing up his drink, Steve's cheeks turned a noticeable pink at the question. "What?" He turned on his heel, nearly spilling some of his drink on to his shirt in his surprise.

This time Sam let out a choked laugh nearly spitting his own drink out due to the action. "Come on, don't play dumb. I've seen you two. She's definitely sweet on you and I swear the only time you don't have that sad, faraway look in your eyes is when Grace is there." He gave his friend an indulgent smile.

"Also I was there almost every time when she came to visit you in that hospital in D.C. so don't even think about me, Rogers. I saw everything."

Steve shook his head, shooting Sam an indignant look. "You saw nothing, Sam. We just...Grace is a..really good friend. That's all. We care deeply about each other yes, but we..you know, know the limits." He stared at his glass again.

"Uh huh." Sam was clearly not convinced. "I suppose intimate hand holding and cheek touching isn't crossing any limits, is it?" He asked.

Steve started to reply when the dinging of the elevator followed by the sound of the automatic doors whooshing open interrupted his train of thought.

"Ah! Capsicle's Bride! Welcome welcome! There's still enough booze to go around. Point Break, pour her some!" Tony called out a greeting to the new arrival though both Steve and Sam reacted to the nickname he gave to the person.

There was a light laugh as Thor, grinning widely began to advance towards the young woman holding up a bottle in his hand.

"Ah ha, very funny Tony and thank you, but no thanks. I think I'll pass on that tonight. Do you happen to have any good old fashioned coca-cola lying around?" Grace asked, shedding her jacket and revealing the royal blue colored evening gown she was wearing as she crossed the lounge to the bar where Natasha had earlier slipped in to help serve drinks.

"Darling, you know I've got everything you could think of. One Coca Cola special for the bride to be, Natalie?" Tony raised his voice a bit as he turned tipsily towards Natasha.

Natasha merely shrugged and bent to open a cooler behind her while Grace very visibly blushed furiously at Tony's words. "Coming right up."

"Geez, could he be any louder?" She murmured under her breath as her friend calmly slid an ice cold vintage glass bottle of coke across the counter to her after using a bottle opener to pop the lid.

"Just ignore him. We all are at this point except for maybe Thor, but you could argue that the god loves his drinks as much as Stark does." Natasha responded, taking a sip from a glass of martini she had mixed earlier.

Grace nodded at her advice, knowing as well as anyone that Nat was right. It was not the first time Tony had poked fun at the close relationship she shared with Steve Rogers, but then again it was the first time he announced his thoughts on the matter as loud as he did a minute ago and well within hearing distance of a large crowd of partiers no less.

Looking at her friend, Grace brought the mouth of the bottle to her lips.

"Guess you've got a point. So, how did your mission go? Word is you guys were successful." She said casually before taking a gulp of her fizzy drink.

Natasha nodded, setting her glass back down on the counter. "You heard right and I'm guessing your assignment went well too judging by the lack of excessive bruising or cuts on your body." She smirked and Grace smiled back.

"It was a standard in and out." She shrugged, looking down to smooth her dress before taking another sip of her drink.

Natasha let out a chuckle. "Well Steve will be glad to hear that." She said with a slightly mischevious glint in her eyes.

Grace let out a soft snort and straightened her posture a bit on her stool, giving her a friend pointed look despite the lingering blush on her cheeks. "Nat..."

"You going to go talk to her or are you just going to stand here like you ain't Captain America?" Sam asked, giving a Steve a nudge in his arm with his elbow and interrupting his gaze.

Steve glanced at him, straightened up from the hand rail upon noticing the smirk on his friend's face and sighed before swirling his glass again. "I uhhh...guess I will." He shrugged unable to keep from smiling as he turned towards the stairs.

Sam gave him an encouraging pat on the back. "That a boy, Cap. It's just Grace right? Your good friend? She just happens to be wearing a very nice dress tonight. That's all."

Steve chuckled and shook his head. "Now you're making fun of me, Wilson."

Sam raised his hands and gave him an innocent look.

"Me? Make fun of you? Now why would I do that?" Natasha asked, still smiling as she served another drink to a clearly flushed Maria.

Grace shrugged her shoulders. "Because you're one of my best friends and you, Tony and Sam are always trying to make mountains out of mole hills when it comes to me and Steve." She stood from the bar then and took another long drink of her coke before setting the bottle down with an audible clink.

To this, Natasha just shrugged her shoulders, lightly flicking her bangs from her face. "And what exactly is your relationship with Steve?" She asked casually, taking another sip from her own drink before raising her index finger in warning stance.

"And if you start to bring his old lady friend into it again, I swear I will knock the rest of that coke onto the floor. I'm asking about you not her."

Grace sighed, stared at the bottom of her bottle and started to reply.

"It's good to see you, Grace." A familiar deep voice interrupted and Grace turned instantly towards it upon recognizing the sound.

"Steve hi! I'm glad I could make it. It's good to see you too." She said sincerely, wrapping her arms round him for a hug which he reciprocated easily, showing a soft smile.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at them then turned quickly to pretend to be mixing up another drink while Sam watched not so inconspicuously from an armchair near the the pool table.

Steve took a deep, slightly shuddery breath as they pulled casually out of the hug, still smiling as his nose briefly caught the soft sweet scent of the perfume that came off of Grace's skin.

"You..you look really beautiful tonight, Doll." He said sincerely, loving the way the deep blue color of the dress accentuated her dark brown tresses which she was wearing loose for the party in contrast to the usual ponytail or bun it was in on duty.

"Not..that..you don't always look beautiful. Cause you do of course." Steve added hastily, almost spilling the remains of his drink as he clumsily gestured around with his arms.

Grace giggled, bringing a hand up to try to stifle her laughter a bit so that Steve didn't think she was making fun of him.

"Why thank you, Steve. You're looking pretty great yourself. Blue is your color." She nodded with approval at the flannel button up shirt he was wearing over a pair of black dress pants.

"It..brings out your eyes." She said softly more to herself than to Steve.

Steve felt his cheeks heat up again. "Oh uh..thanks." He brought a hand up to scratch the back of his head glancing down at himself as he did so.

Grace's smile fell suddenly and Steve felt his disappear too.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" He asked, immediately worried that he had said something to make her uncomfortable. Grace shook her head.

"Steve I..." She looked around at the other party guests before nodding to Steve to get closer and lowering her voice when he slowly obliged.

"...my overall mission today was a success, but...that lead you asked me to follow there ran cold. I'm sorry. I really tried to dig through every possibility before extraction came." She apologized sincerely, avoiding meeting Steve's eyes as she finished speaking.

Steve frowned and gently cupped her chin to get her to look at him. "Hey, it's okay. You didn't have to do this and I know you did your best to complete it anyway. Thank you for that and...thank you for wanting to help me." He whispered so only Grace would hear.

Grace nodded and gave him a weak smile. "No problem. It's my pleasure really. You know I'd do...almost anything for you." She chuckled to try to lighten the mood and Steve smiled back.

"Right back at you. And by the way Sam's not doing any better either. Both the leads I asked him to follow went cold too." He responded.

Grace inclined her head to the side thoughtfully at this. "Well he can't hide forever, right?" She replied. Steve chuckled lightly at that. "One can hope." He agreed before noticing just how close he and Grace were with each other.

"Just know," Grace continued, making Steve break out of his brief trance. "I'm not going to stop. I know he meant a lot to you so...I'll chase down however many cold leads I have to until we find him." She promised, slowly raising her bottle to take another sip of her coke.

Steve smiled, feeling a warmth fill his chest at the sincerity he heard in her words and knowing she would be as true to her word as she had been back when she had first promised to reunite him with Peggy.

"Thank you Grace...Really thank you."

Suddenly at that moment, the loud party mix music changed into a soft lilting jazz piece, causing both Grace and Steve to look up and around themselves until both their eyes settled on Tony who was across the lounge clearly trying to act like he hadn't just come from the DJ station.

Grace couldn't help, but laugh ruefully at what she knew their obscenely rich mutual friend was up to. _Really Stark?_

Steve's chuckle matched her own. "Uhh...would you care to sit for a minute?" He asked, holding out his hand towards an empty table anticipatingly.

Grace glanced over at the table then nodded her head agreeably. "I'd like that. We can catch up." She said moving to take the closest to her. Steve surprised her by moving to pull out her chair.

"Great. It's been a little while since D.C. huh?" He grinned before moving to take the other chair across the table from her.

Grace looked up into his eyes then nodded, laughing a bit before sitting down and spreading out the skirt of her dress a bit before scooting her chair in.

"It really has."

Steve leaned slightly over the table.

"So..how've you been since the whole...well you know..?" He started a bit awkwardly. Grace leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table.

"Pretty much the same as usual. Sometimes the night terrors get pretty bad and other times they're more manageable. I'm okay though. Our late night phone calls certainly do help when we can do them." A certain glint lit her eyes then as if she were about to share a secret with Steve.

"Same." He admitted with a relaxed expression on his face. Grace poked a finger casually at her bottle of coke.

"Sooo...how are you doing then? Last time we spoke over the phone you seemed to be a little upset. Are you sleeping okay these days?" She asked, furrowing her brows a bit in concern.

Steve shrugged and glanced down at the table feeling his smile fall a bit.

"Sometimes." He said honestly. "It's hard to keep everything from flooding my mind at times you know? Especially when I'm alone and...it's dark." He took a light shaky breath.

Grace nodded and started to reply when Clint suddenly bumped past her carrying two tall glasses of beer.

"Whoa! Sorry Grace." He apologized hastily when the jolt caused his fellow agent to spill her coke down the front of her dress.

Almost instantly Steve lunged over the table, grabbing napkins and handing them to Grace as she stood from her seat and tried to mop off the spilled drink from her clothes.

As the napkins quickly became damp with coke, Grace started to move away to find a restroom to finish cleaning up when someone quickly pressed a clean white towel to the stain on her dress.

"Here. Try this." Steve suggested, dabbing at the spill for a minute before Grace took the towel from him and continued trying to salvage her gown.

"I think it's a lost cause, Steve." She said after a minute, turning and setting the towel down on the table.

Steve frowned. "That's a shame. It's a nice dress." He said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his dress pants as he frowned at the dark brown stain left on the shiny blue satin.

Grace shrugged. "Oh well. It's not like there are a lot of occasions that call for me to wear formal evening wear, right?" She asked, half kidding.

Steve cracked a smile. "Well you never know." He said, moving closer to her again.

Quickly averting her eyes when she realized how close Steve was standing in front of her again, Grace quickly turned her gaze back towards the bar, reaching blindly for the towel when she saw Bruce was now sitting at the bar a few feet away seemingly exchanging briefly flirty remarks with Natasha.

The scene made her smile and forget about Clint knocking her drink onto her dress. "That's nice." She said aloud without thinking.

"Hmm? What is?" Steve asked, still looking at her. Grace nodded at their friends at the bar. "That...they seem kinda cute together too." She said with a slight smile as she watched Natasha slide a martini glass carefully towards Bruce.

Steve smiled too in agreement and straightened his posture. "Yeah, maybe if they work out, Nat won't have the time to get on my back anymore about getting a date." He said half jokingly while his hand inched subconsciously closer to Grace's.

Grace looked up at him, almost surprised. "She gets on you too?" She asked. Steve gave her a slightly exaggerated and half playful pained look.

"All the time." His hand paused.

"Funny. She bugs me about it too. Did you remind her that your heart is taken already by a ninety year old lady?" Grace asked, with a slightly teasing grin.

Steve gave a playful scoff and started to retort. "Grace-."

"Hey Lovebirds 1 and 2! Come on! Join the rest of the class!" Tony called over from the circle of couches on the other side of the lounge closest to the windows that overlooked Manhattan.

Thor, Clint, Rhodey, Sam, Maria and even Dr. Cho from Medical was already over there, though the medic was already seemingly passed out in an armchair.

Exchanging knowingly glances, Grace stood from her seat and fell into step next to Steve as they moved to join the rest of their friends where they noticed Thor had his mystical warhammer sat on the coffee table with the handle pointed up.

Natasha and Bruce slipped past them to take seats next to each other leaving Steve and Grace to take the remaining spots next to Thor on a long futon.

"Now that everyone is gathered, Point Break here has a challenge he'd like to issue to the Avengers, if we accept, which we do am I right?" Tony asked, looking a bit more sober than he did earlier, but Grace guessed that he was still likely a little buzzed.

Thor shook his head. "It's hardly a challenge since none but-."

"None but the worthy may haveth the power! Oh come on! It's a trick!" Clint cut him off, clearly a little more than buzzed as he twirled a pair of drumsticks in his hands from his seat on the other couch next to Maria and Bruce.

Thor merely chuckled at his outburst before gesturing grandly towards his prized weapon. "Well then, Brother Barton please be my guest." He offered genteely.

A brief hush fell over the room. Steve and Grace exchanged glances before following the others' gazes over to the archer who finally stood from his seat and shuffled the drumsticks into his right hand before swaggering over to the hammer.

"All right then! Get ready to eat your words." He chortled while Rhodey shook his head. "Oh this is going to be good."

"Careful Clint, we know you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony added, making Bruce and Thor laugh heartily.

Clint marched over to the hammer and seized the handle with his left hand. "Like I said, get ready to eat your words Stark!" He sassed before yanking at the weapon.

To his surprise, the hammer did not budge and Clint finally released his grip, stumbling backwards a bit as he shook out his fingers.

Tony slipped a salsa covered chip into his mouth. "What was that you were saying?" He asked with a cheeky grin.

Laughing sarcastically, Clint gestured dramatically at the billionaire. "Please Stark!..By all means, give it a try." He said before plopping back into his original spot.

Shrugging his shoulders, Tony stood, dusted off his suit and made his own way to the where the hammer sat.

"Uh oh." Natasha muttered, two seats away from Grace and Grace stifled her laughter. "Uh oh is right." She joked glancing back at Steve who shook his head at her in return.

"I'm never one to shrink at an honest challenge." Tony said confidentally, brushing off his jacket one more time before gripping the handle of the weapon with both hands, slipping the leather strap over his right arm.

Looking up, he made eye contact with the god across the table again. "So what? If I lift it, I can rule Asgard? Is that right?" He asked.

Thor nodded casually. "By all means, yes."

"Huh, as if you need any more power?" Grace joked, raising an eyebrow as Clint, Bruce and Maria hummed in agreement with her.

Tony shot her a look. "Well I'd brace yourself, Sweetheart because it's all..about the physics." He bent to get into a better position to lift the hammer. "Although I will be reinstating Prima Nocta. Just FYI." He directed the latter comment back to Thor who only shrugged unconcerned as Tony began to pull.

Grace sat back against the couch, unknowingly causing her hair to lightly graze Steve's forearm which he had draped over the top of the couch in an attempt to get comfortable.

Steve flinched the slightest bit at the light sensation as Tony gave up on trying to pull the hammer with his bare hands and opted to go get one of the arm gauntlets from his Iron Man suit.

"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey snapped when Tony called him over to help and he predictably went to grab his own gauntlet as well.

"Are you on my side?" Tony retorted, his face turning a bit red with exertion.

Rhodes let out a loud sigh. "I'm just representing! Now pull!"

Clint let out a snort. "Now this is just sad." He commented, watching as the two men's gauntlets began to hiss with exertion with no sign of the hammer even budging.

Next up to try was Bruce and though at first he gave an honest effort, when it became clear he wouldn't be able to lift it he released with his grip dramatically with an exaggerated roar trying to make his friends think he was about to hulk out on the coffee table.

Of course no one was fooled though Maria had looked a little worried for a brief second.

"No?" Bruce awkwardly dismounted from the table at the looks everyone gave him as Natasha affably shook her head at the sheepish look on the scientist's face.

Grace laughed along seeing the barely concealed smile Steve was sporting from his seat at the usually calm and collected scientist's antics.

Sam went up next and gave the hammer a couple of tugs before giving up.

"All right! You're up Cap!" Sam hooted, pointing towards his friend with a large grin as he headed back to his seat.

Expecting Steve to turn down the offer, Grace started to lean back casually in her seat only for the Captain to spring forward from the couch and approach the hammer.

"Go Cap!" Clint cheered from across the table while Natasha shot Steve a knowing smile.

Adjusting the sleeves of his shirt, Steve bent over and grasped the handle of the hammer with both hands as Tony did. Grace leaned over to watch, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as Steve took a deep breath and pulled.

Flinching in surprise, Grace turned and exchanged a look first with Nat then with a shocked Thor when the hammer squeaked the slightest bit to the right.

Releasing his grip and his breath, Steve glanced back towards where Thor and Grace sat, shooting the latter an amused grin before giving the weapon a final tug.

The smile eased back onto the god's face when the Captain admitted his defeat and he chuckled as Steve moved to resume his spot by Grace. Grace met the super soldier's eyes with a wide grin.

"Way to go, Cap." She praised, tugging at the skirt of her dress as Steve resumed his previous position.

Steve tried to act ignorant. "What do you mean? I couldn't budge it." He murmured. Grace playfully scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"And here I thought you were always honest." She joked back just as softly.

"Widow?" Bruce gestured shyly towards the redhead who paused with her drink part way to her lips as Tony, Clint and Maria joined in with him.

"Oh no! That's all right. That's not a question I need answered." Natasha quickly brushed everyone off.

Rhodey shrugged. "All right then...Future Bride of Cap?" Tony tried, pointing the neck of his beer bottle at Grace as he spoke.

Grace covered her blush by narrowing her eyes at the billionaire as Steve sighed and suddenly found the floor beneath him very interesting.

"Just for that Tony, no." She retorted, scowling slightly at her friend as she settled herself into a slightly more comfortable position on the couch.

"Besides like Nat, that's not a question I need answered either." She sighed and tucked a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear. Thor gave her a kind smile.

"Then all deference to the man who wouldn't be King." Tony relented standing as Rhodey and Clint moved to get more drinks. "I say it's totally rigged though."

"You bet your a** it is." Clint agreed, clapping Tony on the shoulder.

"Uh Steve, he said a bad language word." Maria piped in, making Steve groan and shake his head.

"What? Did you tell everyone about that?" He asked, directing the question at Tony who of course pretended not to hear him as he went on about how Thor must have rigged the hammer somehow.

Confused, Grace leaned over towards Steve's ear. "Tell everyone about what?" She asked in a whisper.

Steve glanced over at her and sighed, smiling again a bit. "I'll explain later." He murmured back.

"Cap scolded Stark for swearing during the mission the other day." Clint explained, noticing the way Steve leaned in to whisper to Grace.

"And we all heard him on the shared communication channel." The archer cackled with glee as he recounted the incident, enjoying it even more when the tips of Steve's ears turned a little pink.

Eyes widening, Grace glanced back at Steve before a kind smile replaced the slightly startled expression.

"Really? Well I can't say I'm surprised..." She started, laughing a bit and causing Steve to lift his head and turn his gaze to her in surprise.

"...last time Agent Bowers dropped a couple f-bombs while we were in the field together, I seriously thought Steve was going to chuck him straight off the jet. It was...kind of endearing and scary at the same time." She finished with a half shrug and an affable chuckle.

Steve shook his head, letting out an embarrassed laugh.

"Awww I think it's cute!" Maria piped up, raising up her own drink while leaning carelessly back on Sam's shoulder. "It's like he's looking out for your honor 1940s style!" She laughed, shooting Steve a carefree smile.

Sighing, Steve carefully straightened his posture, rubbing the heel of his hand down the side of his cheek as he attempted to regain his composure.

Feeling a gentle hand on his shoulder, Steve jumped and turned his eyes towards the owner of the hand, relaxing when he saw it was Grace.

Noticing the sweet and gently inquiring look on her face, Steve softly smiled back reassuring her without words that he was okay and wasn't taking the teasing too much to heart.

"So what this all essentially boils down to is," Tony suddenly spoke up, ending the conversation about Steve's sense of censorship as he went to get himself another drink.

"Whoever bears the fingerprints of Thor holds the power?" Thor smirked and stood to retrieve his beloved weapon from the coffee table.

"Yes yes, well that's an interesting theory to be sure. I have a better one though." The god answered calmly, obviously enjoying his friends' frustrations and slight confusions as he reached to grasp the handle of the warhammer with one of his hands.

Without even a struggle or blinking an eyelash, he lifted the object as easily into the air as if it were made of plastic. "You all are simply not worthy."

The room burst into a mixture of groans, laughs and playful protests as Thor teasingly twirled the hammer with his fingers.

Grace laughed some more, happy that all her friends and comrades were happy and enjoying being around them for once not in the middle of a tense life or death situation.

"This is some party huh?" Steve commented from next to her and Grace had to nod in agreement, lifting her bottle of coke for another sip.

"It sure is, Steve. Sure is."


	8. It Sucks

(Hey guys! Here is a new Grace and Steve fanfic that I hope you'll like. This one is set in Winter Soldier. For any of you reading my Star Trek, Harry Potter and Twilight fanfics I have a new chapter in the works for all of those right now as well and I am doing my best to finish them soon. Again I hope you enjoy! I own nothing but my OC.)

...

_Okay!...I am never...going to take...that pace...again!_ Sam panted as he finished taking his final lap around the reflecting pool.

He slowed down to a walk as he took a turn towards the street that led to his house, picking up the hem of his damp t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face as the early morning sun steadily grew warmer overhead.

"Ohh!" Sam cried out in surprise, dropping his t-shirt in shock and stumbling forward a bit when something..or rather someone barreled into him.

"Whoa! Sorry are you-? S***!" Sam cursed, barely managing to catch the woman who had bumped into him when she suddenly pitched forward and collapsed into his arms.

"Hey!..Hey Miss! Are you all right? Can you...?" Sam started to try to rouse her and trailed off when his left hand brushed the woman's side and his fingers touched something wet, warm and sticky.

"Ohhh..." Sam groaned, blanching at the sight of his fingers coming up covered in blood. "Crap! I got to get you to a hospital!" He started to pick her up into his arms, but then the mysterious woman suddenly sprang to life.

"No!...No don't! Can't trust...anyone!" She gasped, grabbing onto the collar of Sam's shirt with one hand while clutching at her wound with the other.

Sam furrowed his brows together. "But, you're bleeding out right now. I got to get you some help, Miss!" He said urgently.

The woman pressed her lips together into a thin line before tightening her grip on Sam's shirt. Opening her eyes, she stared into his worried dark brown eyes for a moment before responding.

"Take me...to Steve...Steve Rogers...He lives near. Please!" She begged.

Sam's frown deepened. "Steve Rogers?...But he hasn't been around the past couple days." He blurted out before he could stop himself.

The woman's face fell momentarily before she looked back at Sam. "Then...take me to your place." Her hand crept slowly from her still bleeding wound down to her hip line.

"I can patch myself up there...please!" She pleaded, a tear sliding down her cheek as she moved her crimson-stained hand back to cover her wound.

Sam let out a sigh, a part of him wanting to demand how this strange woman knew his new friend, but a larger part of him knew he needed to focus on getting that gushing wound tended to first. "Miss, I don't know-."

"Please!" She repeated, cutting him off. Sam let his eyes shut and shook his head once. "I must be out of my mind." He muttered to himself, carefully getting a better grip on the injured woman before turning to carry her in the direction of his house.

...

"Ahh!"

"Got it! Finally!" Sam breathed in relief as he turned to toss out the bullet he'd just removed from his new acquaintance who immediately raised a shaky hand clutching a needle with a thin thread already knotted into it.

"Here, let me do that." Sam quickly offered, reaching to take the needle. The woman pulled it from his reach.

"You need to keep watch. Let me know if you see anyone wearing black combat uniforms heading here." She ordered, gritting her teeth as she slowly injected the tip of the needle at the top of her wound.

"When I'm done here I'll add some extra defenses that should hold until I'm able to move on."

Sam frowned at her words and grimaced at the sight of the needle going into the opened flesh before quickly averting his eyes.

"Before I go...I think I have the right to know who you are, and why you were out there stumbling around the city with a bullet stuck in your gut." He said bluntly.

The woman frowned as she continued to sew herself up. "My name is Grace." She answered after a moment, pausing in her work for a moment as if to give herself respite.

Sam waited quietly for a moment to see if she'd continue, but when she didn't he decided to return the introduction. "I'm Sam." He took a step closer as Grace continued to stitch herself up.

"Where did you learn to give yourself stitches?"

Grace shrugged, biting down on her lip as she pulled another stitch in. "Every Agent in my organization learns basic wound assessment and treatment before completing their training." Finishing the last stitch, she tied off the thread then pulled a small knife from the same pouch she pulled the bullet removal kit from and cut the extra string.

"Eventually I may need to get the wound treated properly, but this will hold for now." Grace finished, letting her shirt drop back down to cover her exposed belly again.

Sam raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest. "And...what kind of organization do you work for?" He asked.

Instead of answering, Grace turned and tried to move off the sofa Sam had laid her down on after carrying her into his house.

Instinctively Sam lunged forward to stop her. "Whoa whoa! What do you think you're doing?"

Grace shot him a pointed look. "I have to secure your house. If the wrong people find out I didn't die and that I'm here, you will be in danger and I have to reach Steve before it's too late." She rambled, wincing briefly as she came to a standing position.

Sam's frown deepened when he heard her mention Steve again. "But..you just got shot. And too late for what? How do you know Steve?" He asked.

Instead of answering, Grace began to walk around his living room, raising her hands as she passed the front windows as well as the doors.

Sam gaped as some sort of transparent energy field covered the panes of the windows and the entire frame of the front door.

As Grace slowly turned, similar forcefields appeared to cover the windows in the kitchen, the bathroom and the small bedroom down the hall whose door was standing slightly open.

A slight whimper escaped through her lips for a second before Grace lowered her arms and exhaled deeply as if disconnecting herself from the energy fields she just poured out.

"There. Those should hold for awhile." She spoke in a low voice, sagging slightly as if the effort to conjure up the forcefields drained her of her own strength.

"How did...What did you just do?" Sam stumbled a bit over his words and Grace finally turned to face him.

"I covered all the most vulnerable spots in your home with energy force fields. That way if anyone tries to snipe us out through a window or take down the door, they'll be met by a wall of pure energy." Grace sank back onto the couch, putting a hand gingerly back on her wound.

"Call it a...gift I was given kind of unintentionally by my Dad. It's a long story." She shrugged when Sam gave her a questioning look.

"Okay." He responded after a minute. "Will you tell me how you know Steve Rogers now? Wait!..." He paused, his eyes widening as a realization hit him.

"Are you a part of...the thing that he's working for now?" He asked, now full on gaping at the woman sitting on his couch as she mulled over his question and the response she would give him.

"We both work for the same organization. Or we did I should say. I...looked after him after he came out of the ice. We trained together, I helped him get caught up on everything and...get through some of the tough times."

A soft smile lit her face as she said this and Sam raised an eyebrow at the light pink color that dusted over her cheeks as well as the gleam that lingered in her eyes.

"He's one of my best friends."

"Ohh...you're _her_." Sam grinned, crossing his arms across his chest. Grace snapped her head back up at him. "Her?"

"The one Steve said was there for him when it got hard. His Sweetheart. The girl who's got his heart." His grin widened and Grace felt her cheeks involuntarily heat up.

"Uh..no we're not...there is no way he said that. His heart belongs to someone else!" She stumbled a bit over her words making Sam laugh at her reaction.

"All right, I may have made the last two up, but you should have seen the way he smiled when he talked about you. He was even redder than you are though I doubt he realized it." He teased.

Averting her eyes, Grace shook her head. "Steve is...Steve is my friend." She insisted, feeling Sam's half amused and half skeptical stare as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"A really good friend, but...just a friend."

"Well a-." Sam started to retort when a sharp knocking cut him off, making him jump and Grace whip her head around.

"What the...?"

"They can't get through my force field." Grace stated aloud before springing off the sofa and towards the door, wincing when the sharp movement pulled at her stitches.

Sam beat her there and cautiously pulled open the blinds, motioning with his other hand for Grace to stand back.

His eyes widened when he peered through the window and recognized one of the two figures who were standing on the other side of the door.

Snapping the blinds shut, he lunged for the knob only for Grace to grab him around the wrist and give him a warning look before slipping in front of him as he opened the door.

"Who are you?" She snapped in a cold no-nonsense tone once the door was open. Sam gave her a bewildered look.

"Grace you-."

"Agent Natasha Romanoff. Formerly of S.H.I.E.L.D. You and I once had to resort to hiding in a dumpster which you said smelled like a mix of rotted goat cheese and old onions while tailing a mark in Latveria." The red haired woman cut him off, answering Grace without missing a beat.

Wrinkling her nose, Grace nodded her head and moved her gaze quickly to the taller and more muscular blonde man beside the red head.

"Uh...Steve. Steve Rogers. Formerly of S.H.I.E.L.D. I...accidentally broke your nose once because you scared the crap out of me and it was dark." He chimed in, dropping his gaze and missing the slightly amused smirk that came over Grace's expression.

"Can't read any of that in a mission log." She raised her hand and undid the forcefield on the door to let her two friends in.

"I'm sorry." She apologized quickly. "But it's been a long day and I needed to be certain about some things."

Steve nodded in understanding. "Yeah it's been a long day for us too." He glanced at Natasha. "Actually everyone we know has tried to kill us and this is the last safe place I could think of."

"Same here. I mean, my last mission partner tried to kill me an if I hadn't literally run into this guy, I'd probably be bleeding out on the street right now." Grace bit her lip as she glanced back at her new acquaintance who shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? Leave you on the ground? And for the record, not everyone is trying to kill you guys." Sam stepped forward and grabbed the door to open it a little wider.

With small weary smiles, Steve and Natasha gratefully shuffled in while Grace moved to allow them enough room. Natasha sighed as Sam took one last peek around the corners before shutting and locking the door.

"So...any chance we can clean up a bit here?" She asked a bit hesitantly as Grace moved to replace the force field.

"Oh, yeah sure! There's a bathroom down that way. Soap and shampoo should be in there and towels are in the closet." Sam gestured vaguely down the hall before turning his attention to Steve and Grace.

"You guys good?"

They all nodded. "Thanks." Natasha said gratefully, glancing briefly at Steve before moving to head down in the direction Sam motioned towards.

Steve sighed and waited till Natasha had disappeared into the bathroom and turned on the shower before returning his attention to Grace.

"So...you got attacked too?" He asked a bit awkwardly as she slowly shifted her weight from one foot to the other before looking up at him.

"My partner on the Laos mission." She said as non-chalantly as if she were explaining why she was late to a board meeting.

"Apparently the whole thing was a set up to cover up Hydra's tracks when they shipped the serum we took from the train straight to one of their hidden facilities. I figured out what was going on after we got back into town to perform follow ups and tried to warn Moser, but then he shot me and left me for dead in the lab."

Steve frowned. "He's Hydra."

Grace half nodded. "He was."

"Was?" Steve pressed. Grace pulled in her lower lip between her teeth, trying to hide a smile.

"I...may have suffocated him with a forcefield after he admitted to taking this mission just to secure the serum for one of Hydra's experimentation programs. Something about an army that could take down the world in less than a month." She shrugged with a dark frown.

"Don't worry. I burned all the serum before the blood loss started to kick in." She started to gesture to the side with her arm casually when the movement made her injury sting.

Steve frowned at the wince that crossed her face. "Are you okay? Where were you hit?" He asked, reaching towards her. Grace tried to wave his hands away.

"I'm okay. I already stitched myself up. The entry wound is still fresh that's all." She tried to reassure him, but Steve turned his hand in her loose grip and grasped her fingers.

"Can I still take a look at it?" He asked gently, not loosening his grip. Grace hesitated. "Please?"

Grace sighed. "If you insist." She slowly pulled her arm away and pulled up the hem of her shirt. Steve frowned at the sight of a bit of blood still dripping from the hastily sewn together wound.

"You should wrap something around it. Sit down. I'll ask Sam if he has any bandages." He started to push her backwards towards the couch. Grace instinctively grabbed onto his arms to steady herself.

"You're the Captain."

She shrugged as she lowered herself onto the couch with Steve's hands pressing gently down on her shoulders.

Without replying, Steve left the living room returning a few minutes later with a good sized roll of gauze.

"Okay. This is all he had, but it will do. Lift up your shirt again. Just past your bellybutton." He ordered briskly, seating himself next to her on the small couch before unrolling a good length of the bandage.

Silently, Grace did as she was told staring down at Steve as he got to work carefully wrapping her waist with the gauze.

"So...how do you know Sam?" Grace asked after a moment. Steve sighed.

"We ran into each other a few days ago at the Reflecting Pool early in the morning. We were jogging." He started to explain as he pulled the roll around her middle again.

A slightly amused smile lit up Grace's expression then. "Ah I see. And I suppose he recognized you rather quickly." She grinned. Steve grinned back, not looking up from his work.

"Kinda." He said casually, tying off the bandage and raising his gaze. "Is that too tight?"

Grace shook her head. "No. You're surprisingly gentle for someone strong enough to send a frisbee straight through an alien." She joked lightly, playfully nudging him in the shoulder for good measure and feeling satisfied when Steve chuckled.

"Well I'm glad you think so." He gently tugged her shirt back down though his fingers lingered at her injured side a little longer than was necessary.

"So what about you?" Grace asked, drawing Steve's attention back to her eyes. "Are you okay after...whatever it is Hydra did to try to kill you and Nat?"

Steve shrugged. "Well we managed not to get shot." He pulled away to put the appropriate amount of distance between himself and her.

"Although I did wind up having to fight about 20 agents in an elevator and we both got chased through the mall by some of my former squad mates." He ran a hand through his hair.

Grace frowned. "I'm sorry." Steve shook his head. "Ah, it's not like it's your fault." His hands curled subtly into fists.

Grace reached over and covered his left hand with her right. "It's not yours either." She said softly. Steve exhaled softly and nodded his head.

"It just sucks." Grace nodded in agreement, gazing into the half helpless half determined look in her friend's bright blue eyes.

Steve leaned slightly towards her as if trying to move closer to her touch and without thinking about it Grace leaned in as well, realizing too late that they had moved a little too close to each other.

"Uhhh...I made breakfast." Sam's voice sounded less than a foot away from the back of the couch, causing the two former S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents to spring apart from each other, their faces flushing noticeably and uncomfortably.

"You know uh..if you guys eat that kind of stuff." Sam shrugged, strolling back into the kitchen just as Natasha walked back out from the shower still towel drying her hair.

"Did I miss something?" She asked, soundingly partly curious and mostly amused. Steve cleared his throat and popped up from the sofa first.

"Not really." He said dismissively, turning to offer Grace a hand up. Grace accepted it and turned to give Natasha a reassuring and easy going smile. "We were just talking about how we all almost got killed today."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at that. "Really?" Grace turned her head in Steve's direction and nodded when she saw his right hand slip into the pocket of his pants where a certain antique compass was kept.

"Really."


	9. A Night Terror

(Hey all! I hope you're all doing okay and following all the recommendations during this weird and scary time in the world. I have another Steve and Grace story for ya'll! Yay! I hope you guys enjoy even though it starts out pretty dark and emotional. I own nothing but my OC.)

...

_"You know I still don't know how to dance." Steve's hands shook the slightest bit as he looked down at the icy blue water below one more time._

_ "I'll show you how...just be there." Peggy's voice cracked back over the speakers, making his heart warm and clench almost at the same time._

_ "We should have the band play something slow." He suggested, as the ocean got closer and closer with every passing second._

_ The speakers started to crackle again but before he could hear Peggy's voice again, the plane hit the water full force, causing the windows to break and allowing the icy water to flood the entire inner compartment._

_ Gasping at the cold, Steve tried to brace himself for the end, knowing there was no way he'd be able to escape before he froze to death. Suddenly he felt something grab him very tightly from behind and yank him through the broken front window._

_ Struggling to get out of the mysterious person's grasp, Steve finally managed to turn around as he flailed around in the middle of the water only to come face to face with a familiar pair of blue eyes which were currently twisted into an uncharacteristically hostile glare._

_ "So, this is what you're doing now? Snuggling up in your nice warm bed while I'm practically dead?" Bucky shouted, sounding strangely clear for being underwater._

_ Steve gaped at him, too stunned to respond or even get a single coherent word out of his mouth. "I-I..."_

_ "Save it! You couldn't do the smart thing and stay out of the war when I told you to. You couldn't save me in Siberia and then you left me to get tortured and turned into a monster! You call that heroic? I mean look at me!" Bucky screamed angrily, flinging his arms wide open._

_ Flinching at the pain that came when he felt his former friend's fingernails rip against the skin of his neck, Steve stared horrified at Bucky's furious expression while blood poured in torrents down one side of his body, soaking and staining his arm a dark crimson red._

_ "Yeah some Captain America you are!" Bucky spat, lunging forward and grabbing at the white star that was stitched to the front of Steve's uniform._

_ "Buck please!" He gasped trying and failing to get his best friend's hand off of him. "I tried...I tried to save you!" He begged to no avail._

_ Bucky only growled and dug in harder with his fingers, his gaze growing colder as he somehow manage to tear into the thick material of his suit._

"Bucky no!" Steve screamed, jolting awake in bed only to realize within five seconds that his own right hand was digging into his chest and his entire face and neck was drenched in cold sweat.

With a shaky exhale of air, Steve pulled his arm away to his side and slowly rolled over, wincing when he rolled onto his still sore ribs as a sob started to tear its way through his throat.

Struggling to breathe normally, Steve rubbed his face down with the palms of his hands, groaning softly when when the movement made the slowly fading bruises on his face ache.

He tried desperately despite his current state to keep it together. Even though it was night and he was alone he didn't want to give in and cry like a helpless child in the night.

He was Captain America after all. A hero. A super soldier.

He wasn't that poor scrawny and sickly guy who needed his best friend to protect him and keep him on his feet.

He was strong now. He was...Captain America.

_Some Captain America you are... _The words suddenly rang back into his mind, making Steve flinch as Bucky's angry face seemingly rematerialize in front of him in the darkness of his bedroom.

Before he could attempt to get a fresh grip on himself, he felt the most inhuman and un-Captain America-like scream rip through his body, the impact sending him crashing into the plush folds of the mattress.

...

"Yeah, he went to bed about an hour and a half ago. I'm about to leave now since all the dishes are clean and he seems to be sleeping soundl-." Grace jumped two feet out of her skin, instinctively creating a small forcefield with one hand while reaching for her pistol with the other as a loud terrifying scream ripped through the previous quiet of Steve's apartment.

When nothing popped out from around a corner or bust through the window in her friend's open concept living room, Grace released the breath she had sucked in earlier and deactivated her force field.

"What in the world was that?" Natasha's voice came through the earpiece of her cellphone, drawing Grace's attention back to the device which had ended up on the floor.

Quickly picking it up and cleaning it off on her shirt, Grace replaced the phone against her ear and took another deep breath before responding.

"I-I'm not sure, but I think I need to check on Steve one more time before I head out. I'll call you back in the morning, okay Nat?" She responded, stabbing her thumb into the hang up button once her friend and co-worker gave her reply.

Tossing her phone onto the couch, Grace turned to make a beeline for Steve's bedroom, her heart pounding as she recalled the scream that had startled her in the middle of her conversation with Natasha, who had called to check on Steve after they finally released her from the hospital to finish recovering.

As she got closer to his door, Grace nearly froze at the barely audible sounds of someone trying and failing to stifle their cries as they filtered through the barely cracked open doorway.

Her heart clenched painfully at the sound. A sound she never expected or wanted to hear coming from the person she knew was on the other side of the door.

Swallowing back her own urge to cry, Grace quickly approached the door and gave a few timid raps on the smooth wooden surface.

At first there was no answer. Only a couple hiccups and the rustling of bed sheets before the sound of feet thumping to the floor sounded from inside the bedroom.

"I'm okay..." A voice Grace barely recognized as Steve's croaked before a loud sniffle interrupted.

Sighing, Grace shook her head before gently pushing open the door, illuminating part of the bedroom as she did so and seeing Steve, sitting hunched on the side of his bed, rubbing furiously at tears that didn't seem to be halting their flow while his whole upper body heaved with desperately held in sobs and pain.

The former S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent felt her shoulders slump in grief at what she saw. "Oh Steve!..." She breathed, hurrying across the floor until she was sitting next to him.

Without really thinking about what she was doing, she threw her arms around Steve's broad and muscled body, careful not to touch his side where his ribs were still broken.

Almost instantly, Steve turned towards her embrace, wrapping his own arms around her in a crushing embrace. His body shook against her own as strangled gutteral cries fell muffled against t-shirt she was wearing.

Grace sighed and gently rubbed her hands against his back as she felt his tears dampen her shoulder.

"Tell me what happened." She spoke softly, laying her own head against his shoulder to add additional comfort.

Steve shook his head, making his nose rub against the top of her shoulder. Grace frowned. "Steeeve..." She pressed gently, leaning her cheek against the side of his neck.

"Come on, don't do that. Even Captain America needs a shoulder to cry on from time to time and I've practically known you since you woke up in the 21st Century. Talk to me...Please?" She pleaded, continuing her ministrations on his back as he continued to tremble and cry in her arms.

Finally when Steve stayed quiet for too long, Grace sighed decided to venture a guess. "Is it...Was it about what happened last week?" She asked, knowing that despite the reassurances that Steve had given her after the whole incident with Hydra and the Winter Soldier that he had been deeply affected by everything that had happened in a way that not even the whole mess with Loki and the Chitauri had affected him.

Grace couldn't even begin to imagine what it must feel like, thinking that your best friend had died as a war hero only to come face to face with him 70 something years later as your enemy.

A tortured, brainwashed enemy that didn't even really know he was hurting you, but still an enemy. One that Steve had to fight and hurt badly in order to protect the world from a horror it never should have to know.

Another sniffle came from Grace's right shoulder, then she felt one of his hands curl into the fabric of her shirt.

"He's right. I'm not Captain America. I'm not a hero..." He wept, raising one of his arms to rub angrily at his eyes again.

"A hero doesn't let his best friend fall of a train or leave him to be captured by monsters and turned into a weapon!...A hero doesn't lay in bed when someone out there is hurting! Needing someone to help them! Needing..." He gasped and gripped Grace's shoulder with a painful amount of strength.

Ignoring the bruising sensation on her back, Grace shook her head and reached to cup his damp left cheek with her hand.

"Shhh...none of that was your fault, Steve. You tried to save him and you couldn't have known that he'd survive a fall like that. No normal person would." She tried to comfort him, but Steve just narrowed his eyes at her.

"I still could have gone back to retrieve his body. I could have tried to find him after the mission! I could have...He would have..." He cut himself off with a sharp intake of air that made his chest heave jerkily with the action.

Grace started to avert her eyes when she felt Steve's grip soften over shoulder. "He..he didn't even recognize me when we fought on the street." Steve hiccuped, his gaze hardening even more.

"I called out his name and he...he said...wh-wh-who the h*** is Bucky?" More tears brimmed over his shimmering blue eyes as he recalled that terrible moment.

Grace nodded, recalling that moment since she had been just barely close by enough to overhear the words herself.

"H-h-he didn't even recognize his own name!" The words came out as a shout and Grace jumped a little in shock when Steve punctuated his words with an unbridled punch to the end table behind him.

Involuntarily flinching at the loud sound, Grace stayed quiet to give him a few minutes to calm down before slowly scooting closer to Steve's side since he'd pulled away from her to punch the table.

"I can't...even begin...to imagine what you're going through." She said carefully after a moment after Steve's breathing began to slow down.

"What Bucky must have gone through all these years...it makes me want to track down every last remaining Hydra agent and finish them off for good myself." Grace grit her teeth.

Steve hiccuped and nodded his head. "But...now that Hydra's main operation in S.H.I.E.L.D. has...effectively fallen...I think Bucky may finally has a chance to heal and...be who he really is again. Or at least...as much as he can be anyway." Grace shrugged, turning to gauge Steve's reactions to her words.

Steve gave her a quizzical look. "But he's alone...he's out of his time and element like I was." He nearly whimpered, kneading the fabric of his flannel pajama bottoms as if the action was soothing to him.

Offering him a sad smile, Grace leaned over until she was resting with her head on his well-toned shoulder.

"Well, then I guess you and I will just have to find him and help him like I helped you." She said softly, relaxing into the natural warmth of Steve's body as the clock on Steve's nightsand continued to tick the seconds.

Steve's breathing began to slow. "How will we find him? He was the Winter Soldier, Grace. He'll likely be covering his tracks to keep other Hydra operatives from finding him. It won't be easy to track him down."

Grace shook her head. "No, but I'm sure with a little special help we can at least find some leads. He can't hide forever." She stifled a yawn.

"I'll bet Sam and Nat and even Sharon would be willing to help."

Steve sighed. "I'm sorry." He murmured. Grace picked her head up at this. "Sorry for what?" She asked.

With a final sniff, Steve raised an arm to wipe his nose.

"For making you worry. For crying all over you like a kid and getting your shirt wet. For...yelling at you when none of this is your fault." He sighed and glanced sorrowfully in her direction.

Grace sighed and rolled her eyes. "Just because you're a Captain and a super soldier, doesn't mean you're not allowed to cry or get upset about things. To be honest I was waiting for this to happen ever since the first time I found you tearing your knuckles open on that punching bag in the basement of the safe house." She admitted partially to herself.

When Steve didn't give any response to this, Grace continued.

"I can't promise that I'll have Bucky in here by tomorrow morning or even if we did that we'll have him back to the way you remember within a short amount of time, but we will find him Steve. One way or another. I promise."

She lifted a hand to wipe away the last tracks of tears on his face. Steve gently grabbed her hand in his own.

"Thank you. Thank you Grace." He thanked her sincerely, running the pad of his thumb over the top of her knuckles.

Grace smiled at him. "I always be here for you, Steve." She promised, lightly squeezing on his hand just as a yawn stretched through the super soldier's body making him wince again as the action caused his injuries to flare up.

Grace noticed and moved a little away from him. "I think you should try to get some more sleep now Steve. Your body still needs time to finish recovering." She said quietly.

Stifling another yawn, Steve nodded. "Yeah I think you're right." He murmured, not moving to lay down.

Grace gently reached over to help him lay down. "Come on. Lie down. Your ribs must be killing you right now." She murmured. Steve groaned as he slowly allowed Grace to push him back against the bed.

Pulling up the covers, Grace paused as she was about to cover him up. Still holding onto the duvet with one hand, she cautiously lifted up the bottom of Steve's shirt with the other grimacing at the deep blue, black and green mess that was still visible under the bandages that were wrapped around the Captain's waist to help his ribs heal properly.

A shiver raced through her spine as the shine of an eerily familiar metal fist briefly streaked through her mind.

"Does it look that bad?" Steve's low croaky voice broke into her thoughts and Grace shook her head before letting go of his shirt and draping the blanket over his upper body.

"Just try to sleep. I'll be back in the morning and we'll start working on a plan." She leaned over and adjusted his pillow the slightest bit.

Steve lunged out and grabbed her by the hand when she started to get up to leave him alone.

"Can you stay?" He asked in a soft tired voice that told Grace, he was moments from succumbing to the rest his body needed. "I'm sorry, it's just...I don't really want to be alone right now."

Grace hesitated, looking down at their hands.

_ "You love him." She spoke the words plainly as if it was as simple as pointing out a new pimple on a teenager's face._

_ The words made Grace freeze. "Wha..? No it!...It's not like that, Ms. Carter. I...Steve is very special to me, but he-."_

_ "He loves you too, you know." Peggy interrupted as if she hadn't heard a word the younger woman had said._

_ "He didn't say it out loud, but he might as well have...with how much he tells me about you and..everything you've done together. He called you his heart and soul." She smiled as she spoke, taking a shallow breath before continuing._

_ "The thing that...keeps him going even when it gets hard."_

_ Grace averted her eyes. "Peg...I mean, Ms. Carter I don't-." _

_ "Take care of Steve for me, Grace. Please?" Peggy pleaded, squeezing a cool wrinkly hand over the one Grace had fisted into the fabric of the blanket that was covering her._

_ Grace looked up to see tears in her eyes. "He may act otherwise, but needs you. He needs people like you to keep him grounded. To make him feel loved and supported...He's already lost..so much...don't let him lose anymore." Her chin quivered._

_ Grace felt her heart ache. "But he...he loves you Peggy. He told me so much about you that I feel like sometimes I knew you too...I won't let him lose you." She squeezed slightly on the older woman's hand._

_ Peggy gave her a sad yet grateful smile. "Promise me, you'll be there for him. Even if he tries to push you away...don't leave him alone." Her voice hitched as a tear slid down her cheek._

_ Grace squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip. "I won't...I promise I'll look after Steve. He won't lose me." She promised. Peggy gave another nod and settled back against her pillow._

"I'll stay." Grace finally replied, shifting to sit back down on the edge of the bed, still holding on to Steve's hand which loosened when he felt the mattress shift with her weight.

"Thank you." He murmured, finally letting his eyes close. Grace smiled as she heard his breathing begin to even out.

Looking over at his face, she quickly let her eyes trace over each bruise that was still faintly visible on his otherwise cream colored skin before they rested on his closed eyes.

"I love you Steve." She murmured, knowing he hadn't heard her when he didn't stir at her admission.

"And I'll always care for you...Even if you can't love me back."


	10. Another Night Terror

(So you guys get two Steve and Grace fanfics here today actually haha. This one also starts out dark and emotional, but I did my best to end it on a nice sweet note. I hope you enjoy! Also I forgot to mention the story preceding this "A Night Terror" is set a little bit after Captain America Winter Soldier and this one is post Captain America Civil War. I own nothing but my OC.)

...

"Hey!..Wake up freak!" Grace flinched when a rough pair of hands jerked her forward from her previous slumped back position against the back wall of her cell.

Her arms and hands still completely immobolized by the partially adamantium straight jacket she was locked in tensed together even more as the guard who had woken her from her uncomfortable nap, grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head to the side to expose the side of her neck.

"Oh is that time already?" Grace grumbled sarcastically though her tiredness superceded most of it helped her to ignore the sharp discomfort in her scalp.

Without answering her, the guard grunted to his partner who jabbed the needle of a filled syringe into her neck, deploying the strange clear pinkish concoction directly into her bloodstream.

Grace winced slightly at the sting, but she clenched her jaw and refrained from letting out any cry or noise of discomfort.

Not only did the raft guards not care if they were hurting her, but the sting would soon be the least of her worries once the sedative fully kicked in.

Shutting her eyes, she resigned herself to wait until the guards left her alone again when she heard the door bang open.

"Is she ready?" Another voice grunted, making Grace open her eyes again. A large burly man she didn't recognize walked across the room when one of the guards nodded and Grace turned her head as much as she could towards the one who was standing closest to her.

"Who is that?...What's going on?" She tried to demand, but her voice came out weak due to the multiple dosages of serum she'd received and none of the men in the room bothered to answer her.

A gasp instead was drawn from Grace's lips when the large man grabbed her by the back of the neck and roughly hoisted her up from the ground.

"Wait! We're supposed to wait until the serum kicks in. Otherwise her freaky powers could come back and overpower us." One of the guards spoke up.

The man who was holding Grace sneered at him. "You two have been doping this one up for days. Her powers aren't coming back!" He tightened his grip and turned to drag her from the cell. The other two guards followed.

Grace struggled vainly against the restraints of her straight jacket as her captor dragged her mercilessly down the hall past the other cells where her friends were being held.

Sam turned and stood, kicking over the stool he was sitting on when he saw her being dragged across the floor.

Clint shouted something inaudible at his window. Scott gave her a sorry look while Wanda...Wanda's cell was empty.

"Wait! Where's Wanda? What did you do to her?" Grace started to scream, but again the guards paid no attention to her until they reached a room around the corner and three feet away from the detention hall.

Grace's eyes widened when she realized it was an interrogation room. "Get her on the table!" A man clad in lab coat, protective eye gear and rubber gloves growled before turning to load something that looked like a gun.

A brief yelp escaped from her as she felt herself being tossed up on the cold metal table like a sack of potatoes.

Before she could regain her senses, she felt rough hands grab her legs and restrain them down to the end of the table while the man who tossed her up pulled a third restraint over her chest to keep her upper body immobile.

"So...this is one of the super enhanced ones." The man in the lab coat stepped up to her right side, still holding the gun object in his hand.

"Aye, the less dangerous one so we were told." The burly man responded staring down at Grace as if she were a piece of meat waiting to be carved up.

"Oh well then this should be a cinch." The scientist revved up his weapon making Grace break into a cold sweat despite the blank look she had on her face as the serum she was injected with earlier began to take effect.

Suddenly an ear-splitting scream pierced through the room, making Grace flinch and two of the men who were holding her captive to whip their heads briefly to the left.

"Wanda..." Tears sprang her eyes as she recognized the scream.

"Hmm. Seems like the other one isn't talking." The burly man grunted.

"Well maybe those screams will make this one loosen her tongue faster." The scientist leaned over Grace's face with the gun pointed over her head.

"Tell us where Captain Rogers and the fugitive Mr. Barnes went and you will be free to leave this place." The man in the lab coat purred into Grace's ear making her stomach turn.

"You and your friend in the next interrogation room."

As another scream burst through the air, Grace clenched her jaw, staring the mad man in the eye before turning her head until she was staring up at the bright lights on the ceiling above her.

"I will never...tell you anything." She breathed as her body began to feel heavy. A sudden searing and shocking pain being pressed into the exposed side of her neck jolted her, drawing a scream of agony and surprise as the scientist shocked her with the weapon he had prepped upon her arrival.

"Care...to re-evaluate that statement? Miss _Collins!" _The spat out her name as he yanked the tip of the gun off of her skin.

Trying and failing to stifle her whimpers of pain, Grace squeezed her eyes shut and tilted her head down towards the injured side, saying nothing in response to her tormentor's words.

The scientist leaned down so far that Grace could smell his putrid breath.

"I asked you a question, Ms. Collins." He waited for a second before jamming his electro-gun into the other side of Grace's neck, making her scream again and flail her limbs against her restraints.

This time he electrocuted her for a little longer before pulling his instrument of torture away.

"Well, Miss Collins?" The scientist asked in a low menacing tone.

Grace gasped when the burly thug grabbed her by her scalp again and yanked upwards so that she was forced to look up at him and her interrogator.

"The exact location of your dear lover...and his unfortunate friend." The scientist almost hummed the words as if getting some sort of sick pleasure from his victim's pain.

Swallowing hard, Grace glared him as hard as she could in between pants of air, pressing her lips together hard to show her tormentors that she would never give in.

The scientist's expression darkened at the look on her face until he no longer seemed human.

Before Grace could finish speaking, he reactivated the electro-gun and jammed it as hard as he could into the very middle of her neck.

Grace screamed and flailed until she thought she felt a vocal chord pop.

"They say the level of electricity I can shoot from this, is enough to fry out your nerve endings...make it impossible for you to ever use those freaky mutant powers again...maybe even...kill you." The scientist snarled, taking the weapon away after what seemed like a millenia.

Grace struggled to catch her breath. "Then...kill me!" She hissed as the thug kept pulling up on her hair.

"You'll never get me to tell you where they are!..." She gasped, tears dripping down her face. "You'll never find them!...Never!"

Her tormentor raised an eyebrow at that. "We shall see, Miss Collins." He snarled, powering up the electro-gun again.

With a speed that seemed almost inhuman, he lunged down towards her heart.

...

"Steve!...Steve you need to get up!..Rogers!" Natasha beat incessantly on the door of the room Steve was staying in, stopping only when she heard a groan and the thump of feet hitting the floor.

"Natasha?" Steve spoke blearily, letting out a yawn as he opened the door and saw his disheveled friend standing in his doorway with her arms crossed across the thin t-shirt she was wearing as pajamas.

"Wha...? What's going on? Why are you up?" He grumbled, rubbing at his eyes until the former assassin grabbed him the arm to get his attention.

"You need to come back to the room with me. I think Grace is having a night terror and I can't snap her out of it." She said lowly with an urgency that couldn't be missed.

Steve quickly snapped to attention upon hearing that.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sam's sleep ridden voice sounded from behind Steve though neither of his friends paid any attention to him.

"Is it really bad?" He asked, swallowing hard as he waited for Natasha to answer. Nat nodded. "I woke up to the screaming. When I tried to wake her up, one of her legs flailed out and she nailed me right in the thigh." She gestured to the small bruise that had formed just above her knee.

Steve frowned. "It's like she's being tortured or something...almost like she's going through a nightmare version of whatever happened to her in the Raft." Natasha continued.

Without waiting to hear more, Steve dashed out of his motel room and sprinted down the hall to the room Natasha and Grace were sharing.

Natasha jogged to keep up with him and barely managed to scan her card into the door before Steve yanked on the knob.

"Grace!" He called into the room after flinging the door open. Natasha slipped her arm around behind him to flick on the light and Steve blanched when his eyes fell on the screaming and writhing form laying on the disarrayed bed.

"Oh my God! Grace!" He rushed over to the bedside and placed one knee up on what was likely Nat's side of the bed before reaching to shake her by the shoulder.

"Grace come on! Wake up!...It's me! It's Steve!...You're all right! I promise!" He called desperately to her as she flailed away from his touch, crying out again.

Feeling the scream pierce through his chest, Steve bit his lip before reaching for her again, this time scooping her up from the mess of bedclothes and pulling her into an embrace.

"You're okay. Shh!...Wake up! Come on!" He started to rock her as his desperation grew trying not to hold her too tight as she continued to writhe and flail around.

"You're not there. It's not real!...Just wake up, Grace! Please!" He begged, feeling tears well up in his own eyes.

Suddenly, the screaming and flailing stopped. Steve looked down to see that Grace had gone completely still, laying as limp in his arms as a boned fish until just as suddenly, she sprang back into consciousness nearly hitting heads with Steve as she sat up gasping for air and sniffling.

"Shhh! Shh! Shh! It's okay Grace. It's okay! I've got you!...You're safe." Steve tried to soothe as he kept his arms in a supportive and comforting position around Grace's torso, using one of his hands to rub a soothing circle on the small of her back.

Grace let out a couple more sniffles and grabbed at the material of Steve's shirt with shaking hands while her eyes darted around her immediate surroundings, no longer seeing the cruel people or nightmare apparatuses that were present in her nightmare.

"Breathe. You're okay." Steve repeated in a soft voice. "You're in an old motel with meme, Natasha, Sam, Scott, Clint, Wanda and Vision. You're not in the raft anymore. You're with us...You're with me." He continued to hold her, looking at her flushed, tear-streaked face and hoping she'd look up at him soon.

"You're safe, Grace."

At this, Grace finally lifted her head, her breaths still coming out in little teary hiccups as she raised her eyes and met the soft bright blue ones above her.

"Steve?" She croaked as if not believing he was really there with her. Slowly Steve nodded his head and shifted his other hand to wipe away some of her tears.

Looking around Steve's shoulder, Grace looked around her surroundings, taking in the sparse features of the little motel room she was in until her sub-conscious felt sure that it was really real.

She was here in an old motel room on a musty smelling bed with a bench, a small wardrobe, dresser with a TV and a door to the bathroom.

She was not in the raft being injected with sedative serums, being tortured with unspeakable horrors or listening to her friends scream.

She was here. She was safe. She was here with...

"Oh Steve!" A lump rose through her throat and Steve instinctively gathered her back into an embrace as she cried again into his chest.

"Shh...I'm here Grace. It's all right." He soothed, glancing up to see Natasha pushing herself off of the doorway where she had been leaning and watching him try to comfort her friend.

"I'll go find her a bottle of water." She said quietly before stepping out into the hall presumably to find a vending machine.

Steve nodded and shifted to lean up against the headboard still cradling Grace against him.

...

"Did that really happen to you?...In the Raft Prison?" Steve asked with some hesitation after he and Grace had sat in silence for awhile on the bed after the latter had finished crying and confessed the details of her nightmare to him.

Grace sniffed and rubbed at her nose one more time with a tissue before tossing the thin sheet into the trash can on the other side of the bed.

"They did come to regularly dose me up every hour with that serum to keep my powers down." She stretched out her hands and grimaced when a spark shot out of her fingertips instead of the small forcefield she was used to being able to conjure.

"But the only ones they took for interrogation were Clint and Sam. Probably because they're not as dangerous as me or Wanda and Scott barely has any connection to you." Grace sighed and lowered her hands.

"Sam was in the cell next to me and the only thing he ever came back with were bruises. No electric burns..." Her chin quivered as she spoke the words.

Steve's frown darkened as he took this this information. Taking in a deep breath, he shifted so he was sitting facing Grace's direction.

"Well it won't happen anymore. None of you are ever going back to the Raft Prison or any prison again." He said reassuringly, reaching to take her hands.

Grace sniffed and looked up at him with narrowed eyes as she felt Steve's larger calloused hands close around her trembling ones.

"You can't promise that, Steve."

"Why not?"

"Because we're fugitives now! Any moment someone could find us and bring us in again to pay for not signing those accords!" Grace snapped, making Steve recoil the slightest bit.

"They'll drug up me, you and Wanda so we can't use our powers or your enhanced strength, they'll beat the rest of our team black and blue until we all agree to the accords and divulge Bucky's location AND...even if we make it that far they'll strap trackers on anyone who's enhanced so that every time we use our powers without permission it'll-!"

"That won't happen! They won't do that! I won't let them!" Steve finally found his voice and cut Grace's ranting off, squeezing her hands and shuffling onto his knees on the bed as if to punctuate his point.

"We're off the grid, Grace. Tomorrow, we'll be out of the country and no one will ever be able to put you in a prison or inject you with anything or torture you ever again! I promise!" He softened his voice, pleading with her to believe him.

"I promise Grace. I won't let them hurt you again."

Grace bit her lip. "How? How can you promise that?" She asked in a voice so small, Steve hardly recognized it as hers.

"Because...because I...Because I love you, Grace." Grace stiffened at this admission. "What?"

Steve pulled Grace closer to him. "I love you...And I am never leaving you behind like I did in Germany ever again. I don't care what's happening. I don't care what it costs me...from now on, you and me will always be together..through everything." He said sincerely.

Grace sighed and shook her head. "You can't do that, Steve."

"Do what?"

"You can't just tell me you love me within days of the woman you dearly loved passing away." Grace insisted, starting to pull her hands away.

Steve tightened his grip to keep her from moving away from him. "No, it's not like that. Grace I-!"

"She was your first love, Steve! You lost your chance to be with her because of a war and no matter how much I grew to care for you, I know I can never take her place. So please Steve! Don't make this any harder than-!"

"Grace! Just let me explain! I do love Peggy!" Steve cut her off. Grace turned away from him. "Peggy was someone very special to me and I'll always cherish her and her memory in my heart." With another sniff, Grace nodded her head.

"But Grace!..." Steve continued, stroking his thumbs tenderly over the tops of her hands. "I haven't loved Peggy the way I love you for a couple years now...I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. From the moment you saved me from getting shot off a helicarrier to when you yelled at me after our last meeting the Secretary...Even when you coughed out your drink on me because Tony made some offhand and almost inappropriate remark about your dress at a party."

Grace coughed out a weak laugh at that. "Steve..."

"You have no idea...how much it killed me to have to leave you there at the airport after you and Wanda saved me and Bucky from getting crushed. If Buck and Nat hadn't talked me out of it, I would have jumped right back over to get you out the moment I heard you scream." Steve leaned in close, feeling encouraged when Grace finally looked up at him again.

"I..love you Grace. I love you so much and I promise you...I'll never leave you again. I'll always...do my best to watch out for you and make sure no one ever treats you the way those people at the Raft prison did again. I'll turn myself in first." He swore.

The slightest hint of a smile briefly curled the right side of Grace's face at that. Steve's shoulders slumped.

"But...if you really can't love me back...If my past with Peggy is going to get in the way then...I'll understand." His lips quivered as he loosened his fingers the slightest bit.

"I'll always love you no matter what, but if you can't-." Steve trailed off, nearly toppling over backwards on the bed when Grace lunged forward, clasping her hands around his cheeks before pressing her lips passionately to his own.

Taken aback for a moment, Steve finally managed to return the kiss raising one hand to cup against her still wet cheek until she pulled away, panting a bit with emotion.

Taking in shaky gulps of air himself, Steve looked down and tentatively put an arm around Grace's shoulders as she leaned against his chest, clutching at his shirt again as she attempted to regather herself.

"So...should I assume by that kiss that you love me too?" Steve asked after the silence stretched between them for awhile.

Grace nodded with her head still on his chest. "From the moment you fell on me in the lab when Loki attacked the helicarrier." She managed a watery grin.

Steve snorted at that.

"So, how did this kiss compare to our first one in Leipzig?" Grace continued, sitting up a bit so that she wasn't leaning on Steve anymore.

A bright red blush spread across Steve's cheeks at the question.

"Well, it was equally as spontaneous as that one for sure." He answered. "Except of course, you kissed me first this time." He smirked.

Grace smirked back. "You know...Peggy called me out my feelings one of the last few times I visited with her before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell." She shook her head affably at the memory of her time with the older woman.

"It's no wonder she was a top founding agent. I thought I was doing well, keeping my personal feelings at bay and focusing on helping her...and you."

Now it was Steve's turn to shake his head. "She called me out too. Just a couple weeks before...before she died, she told me to get my feet unstuck from the past so that I could reach for the future." He chuckled dryly, running a hand through his hair.

"I guess she knew what she was talking about. _She_ moved on after all. Just look at Sharon." He gestured with an arm. Grace nodded though her smile turned a little sad.

"I'm still sorry you lost your chance with her." She said softly, fiddling with the fabric of the large t-shirt she was wearing until Steve took her hand to make her stop.

"Don't. Peggy had a really great life...and so did I." Gently, he interlocked his fingers with hers and brought it towards his chest again. "Still am."

Now it was Grace's turn to snort out a laugh. "Oh so being fugitives on the run from our own friends and country is a great life?" She teased, grinning impishly.

"I didn't mean-." Steve started to correct himself until Grace waved him off.

"Steve, I was joking." She yawned. "All things considered, it's been great spending the last few years with you too. I never imagined when I ran into that poor frightened man on the streets of New York what I would be getting into, but I'm glad I decided to jump in and throw a wrench into poor Fury's plans." She smirked at the end of her yawn and Steve smiled back at her.

"You may have a big head and stubborn to a fault, but you have a good heart Steve. There's not enough people like you left in the world." She said thoughtfully while rubbing at her eye with her free hand.

Steve's smile widened the tiniest bit. "Well thanks, but I'm not sure the rest of the world shares your sentiments right now."

Grace shrugged a shoulder. "I don't care." Her eyes fluttered closed for a second and Steve sighed as she blinked up at him sleepily.

"All right, I think we both need to try to get some more sleep now. We move out early in the morning to try avoid any unforeseen complications." He let go of her hand and started to get up from the bed when Grace hung onto him.

"Can I kiss you one more time...before you go?" She asked, gazing at Steve so hopefully that with a light chuckle he leaned back over the bed.

"Goodnight." Steve murmured carefully getting off the bed once the kiss had ended.

"I love you, Steve." Grace replied to which Steve paused at the door and smiled affectionately at her.

"I love you too, Grace."


	11. Aftermath

(Hey readers! Here is a new Steve and Grace fanfic for you to read. This one is set in the beginning of Endgame or just after Infinity War. Whichever one makes more sense to you haha. It starts off pretty sad and melancholy, but I tried to make it a little happy by the end. I hope you like it. I own nothing but my OC.)

...

"It looks...so empty." Bruce murmured mournfully as he disembarked from the ship first, glancing around at the empty lot around him before walking towards the main doors of the compound.

With a stifled sigh, Natasha moved quickly to follow him, biting her lip to keep the tears from falling as Thor followed close at her heels.

Grace managed to catch her gaze briefly as she and Steve appeared at the top of the ramp next and she wordlessly nodded trying to convey as much encouragement as possible though she felt almost nothing but exhaution and despair herself.

Looking up at the unlit neon "Stark Enterprises" sign, Grace sniffed as she noted all of the unlit windows.

Bruce was right. It did look empty. As empty as she knew everyone including herself felt after losing so much on that wretched battlefield.

"Do you think?...Do you think that Pepper might...?" Grace started and trailed off, a lump obstructing her throat and keeping her from finishing her thought.

The feeling of a large, warm and strong hand squeezing at her waist drew her attention to the ragged man beside her.

"I don't know...We can hope." Steve murmured, giving Grace a sad yet encouraging smile as he began to take the next few steps down to the ground.

Attempting to return the gesture, Grace followed, subconsciously grabbing at his shoulder as if searching for support as they dragged their feet through the grass to the door where their friends had just disappeared into.

"Oh my God!" Grace felt her arm slip away from Steve's shoulders as they stepped into the lobby of the Avengers' Compound and saw a familiar teary faced and strawberry blonde woman rushing towards them with most of her hair falling out of her ponytail.

"Tony!" She blurted out as soon as the two women met in the middle of the foyer. "Is Tony...? Is he...?"

Grace felt her face fall more. "I don't know. I'm sorry." She shook her head apologetically squeezing the other woman's hands in what she hoped was a comforting way.

"Rhodey was with us though. He should be coming in shortly." Steve added and Pepper nodded at him, quickly moving to wipe away another tear that had started to trickle down her cheek.

"Thank you. Everyone else went up to their rooms, I think...everything should be running. Water, electricity..." She waved her hand expansively and Grace managed a slight smile.

"Thanks Pepper." She stepped away from her and turned to Steve who sighed shortly. "Let us know if you need anything."

Pepper nodded and turned away to face the door just as Rhodey reached the door still dressed in his Warmachine suit.

...

"I think I'm going to see if I can find some clean clothes and...take a shower. Try to wash today off." Grace said to break the silence after she and Steve finally made it all the way up to the stairs to where their respectives rooms in the compound were located.

Gazing at her face as if trying to read her thoughts, Steve nodded. "I'll probably do the same. Want to meet in the kitchenette below after and...make some hot chocolate?" He suggested quietly.

Giving him the ghost of a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, Grace nodded back. "That sounds perfect." She pulled away and reached for the fingerprint scanner on the door.

"I love you." Steve suddenly blurted out making Grace pause as she opened the door to the room she hadn't used in what felt like a century.

Turning back around, she smiled more widely and stepped forward to cup her fiance's dirt-streaked and bearded cheek in her hand. "I love you too." She mumured back, lightly stroking at the short scratchy hairs that had grown over his once always clean shaven face.

Steve leaned into her palm and pressed a kiss to her hand even though it was dirty too before straightening and turning to head further down the hall to his own room.

"See you soon." He promised and Grace returned the sentiment.

"Okay." Without turning away, she ran her index finger across the scanner and pushed open the door when it buzzed signalling its acceptance of her print.

Stealing one last look at the Captain's retreating form, Grace quickly slipped into the bedroom which seemed strangely foreign to her even though it was the room that she'd used since the Avengers became official and Tony Stark had remodeled Stark Tower to become the Avengers' Headquarters.

Surprised to find it little changed, she allowed her tired and grieving eyes to roam over the familiar wallpaper, the slightly wrinkled bed covers that obviously hadn't been touched since her last night using it and the dresser before her gaze landed on a framed picture sitting on top of said dresser.

It was an old picture taken just after The Avengers' first battle as a team in some Shawarma restaurant Tony suggested in New York.

Tony was in the middle of the picture of course with Bruce at his right and Clint next to him with his feet propped on Natasha's chair. Grace was seated between Nat and Steve and finally Thor was wearing the brightest and biggest smile of them all with his soft drink cup clutched in his large hand.

A soft nostalgic smile started to curl the side of her face as she studied the picture and recalled the memory of that afternoon.

Thor being confused then delighted as he sampled the "foreign dish" as he had called it after their orders had arrived.

Tony babbling a mile a minute about all the plans he had already started thinking of when it came to repairing his then practically decimated tower with Bruce offering some input on occasion.

Clint trying to argue with Grace and Nat over who got more kills and Nat not really getting into it. Though Grace remembered spying a hidden grin on the assassin's face after she finally shoved Clint's leg off of her chair to shut him up for a bit by making him lose his balance.

And finally there was Steve, quietly eating his food and looking around at the group with a partially sad and longing yet mostly satisfied look on his face. As if he was finally beginning to feel a little bit at home even though there were still people he missed and everything and everyone here was mostly still strange and alien to him.

Suddenly Grace felt her vision blur with tears as the warmth and nostalgic joy that had been spread across her chest as she lingered on that memory turned back to sorrow and despair and she dropped the picture, falling along with it to her knees on the ground.

_I'm sorry!...I'm so sorry Wanda!..I'm sorry Sam! Tony! Bucky! Viz!...I'm sorry we didn't win!_

...

_Ah! Much better..._Steve heaved a slow heavy sigh as he pulled a t-shirt on over his head and reached for the towel to finish drying his hair.

He caught a glimpse of himself in one of the many mirrors as he did so and froze as he took in his appearance.

His beard had grown out quite a bit as did his hair and his skin was slightly marred with some light scarring. His eyes too seemed dimmer than before and sunken in. Clouded with grief maybe or glassy with numbness.

Breathing another sigh, Steve set the towel aside and slowly stepped over to the sink counter where he'd left his shaving kit before getting in the shower.

It was hard to believe that mere hours ago, he had finally proposed to the woman he loved more dearly than he had anyone before in the midst of a battle no less, filled with more hope than he'd ever felt since coming out of the ice block.

He and Grace had even hastily planned an impromptu wedding ceremony in between combat manuevers with plans for all their friends and comrades who fought alongside them bearing witness and playing a part.

It would have been an event that Tony might have called "The Wedding of a True American Century". Now...a wedding was far from Steve's mind though he still had every intention of marrying Grace soon even given current circumstances.

The thought though reminded Steve of the ring he had intended to give to Grace before the Avengers broke up and he pulled it from the pocket of his sweats to look at the aged silver band where a glimmering diamond sat encased like a little star.

With a sigh, he let it drop back into his pocket and lunged forward to pick up the razor before leaning towards the mirror.

"A shame...It was really starting to grow on me." Her voice stopped him just as he was about to make the first run through his beard.

Turning from the mirror, he straightened his posture as she walked hesitantly inside dressed now in a long loose t-shirt and yoga capris with her hair hanging loosely to dry after her shower.

"Uh...it's a little scratchy actually." Steve shrugged, awkwardly running his free hand down the back of his head.

Grace made a face scrunching up her nose before an amused smirk quirked the side of her face. Steve noticed that it still didn't reach her eyes.

"I see. Then...do you think I could have one more kiss with it before you shave it off?" She asked with soft hope. Steve let out a soft weak chuckle.

Looking back down at his razor, he shrugged and set it back on the sink before approaching his fiance.

Without a word, he gently curled his hands around the curves of her cheeks and pulled her in till her chest was pressed against his and her hands found a resting place on his shoulders.

Taking a shaky, trembling breath he took the plunge and kissed Grace, gently at first with all the care and respect that had been reared into him since he first came into manhood, but then as Grace's hands moved up to his neck and she began to kiss him a little more fiercely, he found himself returning the fervor and passion he could feel in the kiss.

Then suddenly it was over and Steve barely got his arms around Grace before she crumpled to her knees on the floor.

"Hey! Hey! Easy easy!" He cooed, holding her as tight as he dared while trying not to hurt her.

Grace shook her head, making her hair brush against his chest. "I'm sorry...here we are. We lost so many friends...Pepper may have lost Tony and here I am...just wanting to kiss you before you shave off your beard!" Her fingers dug into his skin and Steve choked on a sob of his own as he felt a wet spot on his t-shirt.

"Shhh...it's okay Grace...It's okay." He tried to soothe her though he was crying now too. They both stayed on the floor together for awhile, despite the cold tiles digging into both of their knees.

Finally both their cries began to subside and Steve turned his head when he felt Grace turn hers so that she was nestled into the side of his neck with her cheek pressed against his shoulder.

"Steve?" She croaked, sniffing as a last tear dripped down her cheek. Steve quickly reached to wipe it away. "Yeah Doll?"

Grace exhaled deeply and snuggled closer to Steve before continuing. "I think...I think we should delay getting married for a little while. Not...that I don't want to marry you. I do! It's just..." She picked her head up to look Steve in the eyes when she felt him tensing at her words.

"...With everything that's happened and everyone we lost...I don't think it's the right time. Our friends...the ones who are left...they need us now more than we need this. Besides, it doesn't feel right getting married without everyone here." She bit her lip and stared down at the still damp tear stain she'd left on Steve's shirt before she felt the soldier's ever gentle fingers grab her chin and lift her gaze until she was meeting his own.

"I agree. Besides Sam and Bucky would both kill me if they didn't get to hash it out over who gets to be best man." He joked weakly and felt his spirits lift the tiniest bit when Grace let out a watery sounding chuckle.

"Yeah Sharon would totally murder me in my sleep as well. Besides Peggy, she called me out first." She blushed a bit and Steve smiled a bit wider.

"I can't wait till we get married though." He said sincerely. "And speaking of getting married someday..." Steve trailed off, squirming as he tried to get a hand back into his pocket.

Grace's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates upon seeing the ring. "Oh Steve!..."

"I had it cleaned and polished right after they found it among my old possessions a little after you helped me get resituated in this crazy new century." Steve explained, his eyes gaze briefly falling back on the ring before they moved back to the teary woman beside him.

"It was my Mom's old engagement ring that my Father gave to her when he asked her to marry him. I kept it since she passed away with the intention of giving it to the Dame I intended to marry. And now..." He reached to for Grace's left hand and carefully pushed the ring onto her ring finger before grasping her fingers tightly in his own.

"I want you to wear it until the day I'm able to meet you at the end of that aisle and make you my wife." He continued to smile. Grace let another watery laugh.

"Steve it's...it's beautiful." She looked up from the ring to her future husband and lightly stroked his beard again with her other hand. "Thank you. I'll keep it safe and wear it to the day...I promise."

Steve sighed and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I know you will." He whispered, leaning into other palm.

Grace stroked the pad of her thumb over Steve's cheek again. "Do you...think there's a way we can bring them all back?" She asked, feeling foolish for asking the question though she couldn't help herself.

"Reverse whatever Thanos did with the stones..."

Steve's shoulders sunk a bit, but he summoned his strength to straighten his posture. "I don't know, but I know that no one left in this compound is going to rest until we've all tried every angle. Especially not me." He looked at her now, not with a passionate love, but with the familiar unrelenting determination of Captain America.

It was a look Grace knew very well and it comforted her despite the reality of the situation and how slim she knew their chances probably were.

His determination made her feel suddenly a little stronger and she leaned forward and enveloped her future husband in a tight, desperate yet affectionate embrace, allowing Steve's warmth and strength cover her as he wrapped her almost protectively in return with his own arms.

"We'll do it together. Like we do everything." She whispered into his ear feeling his breath fan light into her cheek as he rubbed his hands comfortingly over her back.

After they finally parted, Grace felt a small frown tug at her lips as her dark eyes fell on Steve's still bearded face and Steve felt his own smile fall in response. "What? What is it?" He asked.

Grace shook her head. "Nothing just..." She trailed off and let out pitiful choked sounding chuckle.

Realizing what she was thinking about as he watched her pull her lower lip between her teeth, Steve reached up and tugged playfully at his beard.

"Would you like me to keep it until the ceremony?" He asked half jokingly. Grace snorted and shook her head before rubbing her eyes.

"If it's as itchy you said it is, you can shave it off. Just...maybe let me have one very last kiss with it?" She leaned forward as she spoke, tilting her head as if unsure if her request would be honored. Steve laughed a watery laugh before closing the distance to oblige her request.

"Whatever you want, Darling." He bent again to press another quick kiss to the tip of her nose before slowly coming up to a standing position, pulling Grace up with him.

Taking one last deep breath, Grace finally stepped back and wiped the back of her hand against her eyes to dry them.

"I uh...I guess I'll head to the kitchen now and get started on the hot chocolate." She shrugged.

Steve nodded, unable to keep his eyes from straying to where the ring glinted off her left hand one last time. "I'll be there soon." He promised, turning to start shaving.

Grace nodded back. "Don't take too long, Soldier." She smiled coyly before before turning to leave the bathroom.

Chuckling, Steve turned to face the mirror, studying one side of his face before raising the razor. "I won't, Soldier."


End file.
